Sony Music CEO Wants Streaming Services To Start Charging Free Users
Sony Music chief Rob Stringer calls for an end to free ad-funded streaming services https://t.co/mF8NXisdbg pic.twitter.com/wYlbhwRAPk
- Music Week (@MusicWeek) May 30, 2024
Do you stream music with ads for Free99? Well, that may come to an end if a certain CEO gets his way.
During Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer's presentation at Sony Group’s annual Business Segment Meeting on Thursday (May 30), Stringer suggested that DSPs start charging a “modest fee” on their free subscription tiers.
“While free tiers attract billions of monthly users, their poor contribution to streaming monetization means their primary purpose is to convert users into paying subscribers,” Stringer said.
“The value of the paid music product remains incredible. And we appreciate that our partners recognized that with price increases over the past year. However, it also highlights that the price gap between free and paid has gotten wider in mature markets. We hope that our partners close that gap by asking consumers using ad-supported services to additionally pay a modest fee. This would help develop the segment of the streaming business to be more than just a marketing funnel for paid subscription. And still be a tremendous value to users.”
“We have a shared interest in [the] better monetization of free tiers. And at Sony Music, we think everyone is willing to pay something for access to virtually the entire universe of music,” he proceeded.
His comments build on views expressed by Sony Music’s digital boss Dennis Kooker back in March. “There’s been no evolution of the financial models for free tiers since the beginning of the streaming era, and that needs to be re-examined as markets mature,” he said. “One obvious [desirable] thing for me is free tiers that are not completely free - that are more of a hybrid.”
All these comments come in the wake of price hikes at Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer and other streaming services.
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