IFPI Digital Music Report 2010

Digital Music Report 2010
In Profile: Pioneers Of Digital Music
Music To The Household
Neil Martin, Business Development
Director, Sky Songs
The UK home entertainment company Sky’s music
service, launched in partnership with all major and
many independent record companies in October
2009, is the most high-profile tie-up to date
between the music industry and an ISP.
“Sky is synonymous with premium content and
great hi-tech driven solutions. We’re also known
for our pioneering work in launching and growing
subscription services where people are happy
to pay for content. We therefore had skills in
the company that were relevant to launching a
digital music service” says Neil Martin, business
development director.
Sky Songs is part of the company’s broader move
to multi-platform delivery, which includes the
launch of Sky Player on Xbox and mobile TV on the
iPhone. “The way people use media is changing.
A mainstream audience is now comfortable with
enjoying content on different media – their phone,
their PC and their TV.”
The service offers music fans unlimited streaming of
more than four million tracks and the opportunity to
download an album or 10 individual tracks for £6.49
per month or 15 tracks for £7.99 per month. Users
have the option of signing up for one month only.
“Subscription
services that
locked people
into long
contracts without
the option of
downloading
were not popular.
People thought after six months that they had
nothing to show for the money they had spent.
And who are we to determine how people should
enjoy music? If people want to buy music in bursts,
we want their business.”
Sky has invested heavily in editorial support for the
site. “You can’t just dump people in front of 150 years’
worth of repertoire and leave them to get on with it.
You need to help people explore and discover new
music otherwise they will be hit by choice paralysis.”
“We understand this through our work in television,
where schedulers provide choice that ensures people
watch more than two or three of the 600 channels
available on the Sky platform. With Sky Songs,
editorial can lead people to
explore certain genres or tracks.
The other day, the most visited
page on the service was a playlist
of the greatest-ever funeral
songs, something that was driven
by a piece of editorial.”
Sky believes the increased
adoption of digital services will
be driven by the quality of the
user experience offered. “When
we sold Sky Plus (a personal
video recorder service), we didn’t
sell the technology, we sold what
it enabled you to do. Now it is in
25 per cent of UK homes. You
don’t sell bits and bytes, you
sell the user experience. People
enthused about Sky Plus to
their friends at parties or
down the pub. We want to
generate such advocacy for
Sky Songs because of the
quality of the service.” n
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