{"id":8268,"date":"2014-03-05T15:06:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T15:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=8268"},"modified":"2014-03-06T19:04:07","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T19:04:07","slug":"death-of-the-ipod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=8268","title":{"rendered":"Death of the iPod?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previously poised to conquer the world in 2002 and 2003, the once mighty iPod is on the decline.\u00a0 According to recent statistics, sales of the iPod Classic have significantly decreased.\u00a0 Currently it seems ready to go the way of the walkman and the VHS player, other hardware elements that have become obsolete.<\/p>\n

Numbers don\u2019t lie<\/p>\n

The revenue for the iPod business has dropped by 31 percent \u201cyear-over-year,\u201d says Craig Lloyd, a technology expert and writer for Slashgear<\/em>, a technology blog.\u00a0 In the fourth quarter of 2011, iPod sales were down 27 percent from the previous year, and the number of iPod units sold dropped 32 percent from the previous year. Lloyd says this doesn\u2019t come as much of a surprise, since the iPod has been on a downward trend for a while now.<\/p>\n

\"As
No contest. Do we still need the iPod, when the iPhone does essentially the same thing and more?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By contrast, there has been an \u201cexponential increase\u201d in active listeners of online music apps in the past few years, according to David Porter, CEO of 8tracks. The best way to measure internet radio success is through monthly active users and listener hours, rather than the amount of people who have downloaded this app, he says.\u00a0 In Sept. 2011, the listener hours (sum total of all hours streamed) were three million; in Sept. 2012, 10 million; and in Sept. 2013, it had grown to 26 million.<\/p>\n

Among reasons for the decline in iPod sales, surely a major one is that young users are turning to their cell phones for music. Consumers aren\u2019t buying iPods because iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices can play music, too. \u201cEssentially, consumers are thinking, Why would I carry around a phone and an iPod when I can have both in one device?\u201d says Lloyd.<\/p>\n

Advantages of online music apps<\/p>\n

Cell phones do not offer as much space for music in stored files; however, people can download a variety of streaming apps.\u00a0 There are some great new streaming apps available, including Songza and 8tracks, which have many advantages over the mighty iPod.<\/p>\n

Foremost, the price is a lot cheaper: An app costs far less than an iPod.\u00a0 Apps like Songza and 8tracks are free for users.\u00a0 Others apps, like Storify, which have the ability for offline access, cost $10 a month, according to Lloyd \u2014 still much cheaper than an iPod.\u00a0 \u201cPeople are happy to spend $10 per month for premium music services,\u201d Lloyd says.<\/p>\n

\u2018Consumers are thinking, Why carry a phone and an iPod when I can have both in one device?\u2019 \u2014 technology writer Craig Lloyd<\/p>\n

Another advantage is the potential to discover new music. <\/p>\n

Streaming apps gives listeners that \u201cradio\u201d experience, but vastly improved per choice, timing and demand. These kinds of apps are great for when the listener wants to hit \u201cPlay\u201d and listen to music.\u00a0 There is no predictability with these streaming apps, and that is what entices people to use them. If the listener doesn\u2019t like a song that comes on, he or she just hits \u201cNext\u201d and a fresh beat will play.\u00a0 Also, the amount that you can stream through these apps is limitless.<\/p>\n

\"Carleton
Carleton student Cynthia Winker listens to Songza because she prefers its spontaneity, over her iPod playlist.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just like the radio, music apps allow people to discover new music that they wouldn\u2019t have otherwise uncovered, explains Porter. But music on the radio tends to be stale and overplayed. These online streaming playlists are much more colourful and creative.<\/p>\n

That is because the apps are well curated. At Songza, playlists are curated by a network of music experts including disc jockeys, musicologists, music writers and music journalists, who hand pick music. Megan Green, Senior Director of Business Development at Songza, explains that some playlists are updated more frequently than others, depending on how often they are streamed, to give the listeners a variety.<\/p>\n

\u201cI basically use it because of their fresh and upbeat songs; it\u2019s a good change from my playlist,\u201d says Peter Kavcic, 22, a Carleton University student. \u201cIt really is a lot more refreshing than the same old songs on your own iTunes workout playlist.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is also part of a generational shift in values. Younger listeners don\u2019t care to own music, whether purchased or downloaded-for-free. Younger listeners are happy to stream.<\/p>\n

Why buy?<\/p>\n

Consumers have moved away from buying songs to simply wanting to access the music. It saves space on their devices, too.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter whether they own the songs or not; as long as they can access the music, these listeners are content.\u00a0 Users cannot choose a certain song\u00a0 while listening to these apps, but they can choose particular playlists that offer songs within that same genre.<\/p>\n

According to Porter, only about 20 per cent of people in the United States actually buy music.\u00a0 The younger generations don\u2019t buy; they assume it should be free because of all the types of free online streaming services. The main demographic that still buys music is the middle range: thirty-somethings who want to remain loyal to a particular artist or band.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would agree [iPods] are becoming obsolete for the most part, but there are still some people who need an iPod because the iPhone only holds 64GB of files, and I know a few people that have music libraries larger than that. Those people still use their iPod Classics today,\u201d says Lloyd.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, with smart-phones here to stay and streaming increasing exponentially, it seems safe to say \u201cR.I.P. iPod.\u201d<\/p>\n

Home-page photo \u00a9 Christina Pellegrini.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sidebar photo courtesy of Songza. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Online apps are where the future of music is headed, leaving the iPod going the way of VHS, the walkman and the dodo bird. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":8584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8268"}],"version-history":[{"count":68,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9239,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8268\/revisions\/9239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}