The last revolution the music industry went through was the transition from physical cd’s to MP3’s. While digital files, particularly non-DRM files are easy to store and manage, there is still significant drawback in the existing model. The music industry is about to go through yet another revolution, this time the change is even more significant.
In an always-connected landscape music subscription services will dominate the next 10 years. Internationally music services like Rhapsody, Zune and Spotify provide music enthusiasts an economical way of playing any song they want. As someone who lives and breaths the latest tunes, subscription music makes a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately Australia has lagged behind the rest of the world in music subscription services.
Enter Anubis.fm.
Access to 4 million songs from all the major labels for A$12.99 per month is pretty amazing value. Like many, I have spent much more than that per month buy music from iTunes. Less than the cost of 1 album, you can listen to latest releases to a massive back catalogue, including some great Australian bands that other services leave out.
So the big problem with subscription services is that if you stop paying you have no music right ? We at the right price, my question is.. why would you stop paying. Sure if your needs / lifestyle change then maybe. Remember you can still buy tracks and albums which are DRM-free and high quality 256 or 320kbps. Prices for music on Anubis.fm ranges from A$0.49 – A$2.20 per track depending on how recent it is.
Probably the reason most of you haven’t heard of Anubis.fm is because of a crazy requirement to have a Sonos device. Seriously guys, open this up for everyone and you will dominate the Aussie music industry and do it fast, or someone else (Apple) will.
If you are lucky enough to own a Sonos device, you can stream, even wake up to, you favourite Anubis music. You can also stream through the website, but I’m most excited by the upcoming anubis.fm iPhone app for listening on the go.
The website for Anubis.fm is actually really impressive, along with a number of pre-built channels to listen to, it also allows users to create their own channel. Creating a playlist of your favourite tunes, not only shows up on devices, but is available for your friends to listen to. Yep, social music has arrived and your the DJ. Scroll below the fold and each artist page has not only a list of music to buy, but videos, photos, bio, news and similar artists. Some have linked Twitter and Facebook accounts as well to keep you up to date.
Try out the service for 30 days free, but chances are you’ll be pulling out the credit card or PayPal account to signup for good.
More information @ Anubis.fm.