RAIN Poll: Should streaming subscriptions cost less?

survey checkbox poll 01 canvasRecent news that Apple is pushing back to labels about licensing fees, with the possible intent of lowering the monthly subscription cost of Beats Music, sets the stage for this week’s RAIN Poll.

The standard monthly price for fully on-demand streaming is ten dollars. Non-interactive streaming (e.g. Pandora and other online radio outlets) is either free, supported by advertising, or $4-5/month for an ad-free experience.

In all cases, free users outnumber paying users by several multiples, indicating that the advertising model is preeminent. Spotify, which goes in both directions — free listening with ads, or paid streaming with no ads and jukeboxing — has 40-million non-paying users against 10-million subscribers. Pandora has about three-million monthly subscribers within an overall audience of 76-million.

Is Apple right? Would a lower subscription cost stimulate the subscription side of the streaming business? Or doesn’t it matter? Vote your opinion! As always, selected comments will be feature in poll results.

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Brad Hill