Friday, September 17, 2004
XM Radio To Launch Online Music Service
Posted by Kent Pribbernow in "NEWS" @ 01:30 PM
"Satellite radio operator XM Radio on Wednesday announced plans to launch an online music service. The Washington, D.C.-based company said the service, dubbed XM Radio Online, will launch sometime in early October and operate commercial-free, just as its satellite programming does. XM will charge $7.99 per month for unlimited listening and offer a discount rate of $3.99 to subscribers of its existing radio services. The company's main business is a commercial-free radio service that's used with its portable satellite radio receivers, which are designed for use in homes and cars. The company currently claims about 2.1 million subscribers."
This an interesting move for XM, though I question whether or not this strategy will succeed. The first flaw I see is that the quality of the music experience will depend greatly on the PC user's hardware. No one is going to pay $8 a month to listen to music on a PC with lame speakers and budget sound card. To get the full benefit, you're going to need a good sound card and a 5.1 speaker system.
Then there is the question of whether there really is a market for this service at all. I'm sure XM has done some market research, but still...I can't think of anyone I know that would want to listen to XM on their PC, even at work to pass the time. We'll see.
This an interesting move for XM, though I question whether or not this strategy will succeed. The first flaw I see is that the quality of the music experience will depend greatly on the PC user's hardware. No one is going to pay $8 a month to listen to music on a PC with lame speakers and budget sound card. To get the full benefit, you're going to need a good sound card and a 5.1 speaker system.
Then there is the question of whether there really is a market for this service at all. I'm sure XM has done some market research, but still...I can't think of anyone I know that would want to listen to XM on their PC, even at work to pass the time. We'll see.
