Music Players and Profilers
Christmas is coming, and that means a new wave of digital music players will be waiting for eager ears. The portable music market will have a new entrant next month with Microsoft's launch of Zune, yet another attempt to shave some market share off the dominant iPod family. What do consumers want in a digital music player? Manufacturers have tried answering that question with a pile of features including radio tuners, line-in, replaceable batteries, wireless connectivity, and displays designed for one-line of text all the way up to a widescreen video.
Microsoft promotes social sharing in its upcoming player, and they're not alone. Over the past year we've seen significant uptake in music playlist sharing on sites such as Last.fm, MyStrands, iLike, and others. Software is taking an automated approach to music discovery, connecting your own habits with the recommendations and musical tastes of your friends.
What has changed in the music industry? Will Microsoft's new music player shift the market or will it be another yawn from the deep-pocketed software giant? Does the mobile phone stand a chance as a portable music player? What do we want out of a hardware device and recommendation systems?
Om and I discuss these issues and more in this week's PodSession, Music Players and Profilers. The podcast is 23 minutes in length, a 10.5 MB download.