Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures recently posted a piece on his blog AVC outlining the potential for a roaming network which would connect all music streaming services such as Spotify, Rdio, XBOX Music, Rhapsody, Daisy, etc.
Wilson compares the idea to how banks create networks to offer customers more ATM choices or how mobile carrier services often open their wifi networks to customers of competing carrier services – “Roaming is a great solution to the problem when multiple businesses offer a proprietary commodity service. The customer is forced to choose one provider but in effect the service is identical from vendor to vendor.”
It’s an interesting model… Spotify and Rdio do offer a very similar means to access a very similar catalogue. Opening the gates would certainly help music listeners connect with each other, discover new music and increase plays across the streaming platforms. But would it really be in the best interest of these services to open their doors to the competition? By allowing users to play on other playgrounds, does a company run the risk of the user not coming home for dinner?
Read up on Wilson’s theory here. Definitely a concept worth exploring and opens to broader conversation of how these companies will need to continue to innovate in order to increase accessibility, choice and convenience across the board for their listeners.
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