Napster SVP Doesn’t Believe That Music Streaming Will Become The New Medium

With the rise of music streaming services, it has been suggested that music streaming could soon be the new way that people listen to music, as opposed to purchasing individual songs or albums from platforms such as iTunes.

In fact a recent study has found that digital music sales have dipped for the first time ever, leading rise to the speculation that the model could be showing signs of being on its way out, albeit slowly. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but it seems that despite being a streaming service themselves, Napster does not think that streaming will become the new medium.

This is according to Napster’s SVP, Thorsten Schliesche, who in an interview with The Inquirer, was quoted as saying, “[Music streaming] will never become the primary medium. Of course, it will be dominant, and will become more so over the next two years, but people have bought expensive equipment for their homes and will continue to buy CDs.”

He goes on to state that streaming will instead be used by listeners who want to discover new music, after which they will then decide if the songs/albums are good enough to buy. He also claims that customer perception is another reason why streaming will never become the medium due to pricing, as customers have no idea how much such a service will cost since different providers charge different.

This is compared to physical copies of albums which are usually priced around the same mark, limited edition and boxed sets not withstanding. What do you guys think? Does Schliesche have a valid point? Or do you think that music streaming will eventually become the new medium?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Audio
Tags: napster