Rara.com enters the online music fight

Rara.com has just launched in 18 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK and many European countries. Rara comes with two main differentiation factors: its design and its price. The world is in an economic pinch, so let’s start with the pricing model: Rara will basically charge$4.99/month for its ad-free, unlimited access to 10M songs from a computer. For mobile devices, it will cost $9.99/mo. Additionally, new users will discounts for the first three months.

Beyond pricing, Rara says that its image-based user interface is much better than competitors like iTunes and other. Rara goes as far as saying that using those feel like “navigating spreadsheet”. Instead, Rara bets that by using more images and less text, it can make its product more attractive, and easier, for its customers.

Finally, Rara is making the point that 70% of consumers are not using an online music service yet, and that most companies in that space focus on the 20% who are already paying online (10% use free service, or other unpaid means to acquire music…). Rara thinks  that the combination of aggressive pricing and “ease of use” will give it an edge. We wish them the best for their launch, and we’ll keep an eye on it. What do you think?

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Audio, Breaking
Tags: Music