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Introducing Vdio

blog.rdio.com

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Re: Introducing Vdio

#51

Post by dewitt »

onemorepassword wrote: post #36

"only available [...] in the US and UK" Can anybody think of any geo-tarded service that successfully rolled out in other countries later? Because as some not in the "chosen countries" I always feel that those services either a) never arrive, b) get beaten to the punch by local competitors or c) have to spend a shitload of money to conquer that market, sometimes by buying the aforementioned competitors. Also, unless…

"Can anybody think of any geo-tarded service that successfully rolled out in other countries later?"

As someone living in the US, I can only imagine the frustration people must feel not having access to content in their home countries. It would drive me nuts as well.

But as someone working at a company who also tries very, very hard to make services available to people around the world (the goal is 100% coverage) I also know how hard/impossible it is to negotiate with the rights holders in every nation simultaneously.

So services like Rdio or Vdio need to make a very tough choice: delay their launch, perhaps for years, perhaps forever, to negotiate the rights in all ~200 countries and territories in the world, or launch in the biggest markets first, and hope and try to iterate from there.

I don't know if there even is a right answer. But I do know for sure that it's not Rdio/Vdio's choice not to launch globally. They want it the other way, too.

(As an aside, the phrase "geo-tarded" doesn't sit well with me. Perhaps use "geo-challenged", which says the same thing without the additional connotations.)

Re: Introducing Vdio

#52

Post by dubcanada »

onemorepassword wrote: post #36

"only available [...] in the US and UK" Can anybody think of any geo-tarded service that successfully rolled out in other countries later? Because as some not in the "chosen countries" I always feel that those services either a) never arrive, b) get beaten to the punch by local competitors or c) have to spend a shitload of money to conquer that market, sometimes by buying the aforementioned competitors. Also, unless…

Strip is rolling out to other countries.

TBH there is no reason for a company to not roll out so long as it is financially worth it.

Re: Introducing Vdio

#53

Post by daigoba66 »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #46
notatoad wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, i understand that subscription services are different to "ownership" type services. But i'm saying that subscription services are the solution to the "ownership problem". you never really own digital content, so rather than demanding laws to pretend we own digital content, let's all just stop pretending. if you want to consume digital content, a subscription service is the solution.

I don't listen to very much music, do Rdio and Spotify get the new albums as soon as they are released? With movies and TV there is usually a very long waiting period before they appear on Netflix and Amazon Prime. I'm not sure what a subscription service would cost that had all of the newly released movies but I'm pretty sure it's more than any person would be willing to spend.

Rdio and Spotify do typically get albums the day they are released (assuming the appropriate contract is already in place with the artist and label).

Movies and TV shows are completely different beasts. For Movies, you typically can only see them in Theaters long before buying, renting, netflix, pay-per-view, etc. TV shows aren't available until after their broadcast date, and sometimes not until months later. And the completeness of the catalog for TV shows on hulu/netflix/etc is EXTREMELY thin compared to the music catalog of Rdio/Spotify; even if you only consider current TV shows.

Re: Introducing Vdio

#55

Post by bennesvig »

ThomPete wrote: post #32
tptacek wrote: post #3

I hope this means Rdio is going to be a more sustainable long-term business, and not that Rdio is pivoting away from music; Rdio seems to be the best of a shaky lot when it comes to subscription music services, and I'd hate for it to get worse.

Its pretty hard to beat Spotify unless you have some specific taste in music they dont cover well. But overall I have a hard time seing a better service than theirs. It just works, is fast and has a large db of content.

I've tried both and have stuck with Rdio. The social aspect is superior. I love being able to see playlists and recommendations from random people beyond my Facebook friends. Spotify's desktop app is definitely faster, though I find Rdio to be better designed.

Re: Introducing Vdio

#56

Post by loumf »

glomph wrote: post #35
tptacek wrote: post #3

I hope this means Rdio is going to be a more sustainable long-term business, and not that Rdio is pivoting away from music; Rdio seems to be the best of a shaky lot when it comes to subscription music services, and I'd hate for it to get worse.

Can I ask why you used the word pivoting instead of moving? To pivot is to swing around a fixed point. What is the fixed point in this context?

Pivot is a term of art popularized by Eric Ries and the lean startup movement.

Pivots frequently keep a large part constant, thus the word makes sense.

Re: Introducing Vdio

#57

Post by nobodyshere »

msbarnett wrote: post #48
onemorepassword wrote: post #36

"only available [...] in the US and UK" Can anybody think of any geo-tarded service that successfully rolled out in other countries later? Because as some not in the "chosen countries" I always feel that those services either a) never arrive, b) get beaten to the punch by local competitors or c) have to spend a shitload of money to conquer that market, sometimes by buying the aforementioned competitors. Also, unless…

> Can anybody think of any geo-tarded service that successfully rolled out in other countries later? Rdio, iTunes Music Store, iTunes Movie/TV Store, Netflix, Amazon's digital services, etc were all unavailable in Canada on launch and successfully rolled out later on.

Netflix? Hahaha, good luck with that anywhere outside Canada, USA or UK. Amazon? The same. No need to describe the rest of them. Same story everywhere. Other countries are just not on their globe.

Re: Introducing Vdio

#58

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

bluepanda_ wrote: post #30
daigoba66 wrote: post #22

Honestly, why would I choose this over iTunes? I love Rdio (I'm a former Zune pass subscriber, and Rdio far better replacement than Spotify), but in what way is this better or different than the competition? The price and catalog appear to be pretty much identical.

And why would I choose that over Amazon Prime's pay-per-view services? It'd be great if they had a subscription plan like Rdio or Spotify (similarly to Netflix), but it seems there are too many copyright and profitability issues involved.

I believe where iTunes differentiates itself from the streaming services is offline. The video you get is prefetched, so you don't need access to a large bandwidth pipe in order to view your content, and you can also store them on an iOS device or iPod and view the content anywhere. I'm not personally aware of other digital video services that work like this.

Re: Introducing Vdio

#59

Post by joshlehman »

mortenjorck wrote: post #18

I'm looking up and down here for the differentiator that would get iTunes or Amazon Instant Video customers to switch to Vdio, and all I'm seeing is a lack of living-room device partnerships plus customer library lock-in on the Apple and Amazon platforms. How on earth will Vdio compete?

I agree. What is unique here? I really hope they have some advantageous licensing deal that nobody else can get or plans to do something, anything, different... otherwise this is a waste of time and investor money.

Re: Introducing Vdio

#60

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #31
deltaqueue wrote: post #26

Rant ahead... Am I the only one dissatisfied with the way media delivery has played out the past couple of years? We started with a rapidly developing delivery system (the internet) and content makers who couldn't see the value in capitalizing on this sales channel by making movies, TV shows, and songs available to consumers at reasonable prices (read: less than physical media costs), which led to piracy, global diss…

I don't know how Netflix producing content and making it exclusive to their subscription service is a win for consumers.

It's at least a step up from how studios like HBO operate. If you want to watch HBO's content, there's no legal way to do so without being part of an expensive cable package. If you wanted to watch House of Cards and you weren't already a Netflix member, you could just pay the $8 (or get a free first-month trial) to essentially rent the entire Netflix catalog for an entire month. That's what you might have paid not too long ago to borrow a single scratched-up DVD from Blockbuster for a few days.
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