In a statement yesterday, “Tim Cook reminded everyone why Apple acquired Beats. While discussing the realm of music streaming and an ability to both monetize and reward artists, Cook said of Beats, ‘they’re the only ones that got it right.’ And it is for this reason (among others) Sirius XM and Pandora should worry today,” Wall Street Playbook writes for Seeking Alpha. “For Pandora, the impact will be felt immediately. After a decade in existence, Pandora still has not shown investors that it can make any money. Despite its lead, the company has been riddled with deteriorating profits. In fact, even though Pandora’s revenue has steadily risen, there has also been a clear deceleration in active users. Even worse, artists, with whom Pandora has fought over payments, now has Apple to align themselves with.”
“Apple has offered to pay artists twice what Pandora pays, while also offering to share a portion of ad revenue. So contractually, an Apple/Beats union will eventually kill off Pandora. For Sirius, however, the impact will be felt much slowly. This is because, aside from the fact that Sirius makes money, Sirius offers more than just music. But Apple has also begun to address this,” WSP writes. “Recall, back in March, Apple announced that it had added the NPR channel to iTunes Radio… [and] on Wednesday, Apple also introduced a new ESPN station for iTunes Radio. The station will include original ESPN programs like SportsCenter All Night, SVP and Russillo, The Herd, and Mike & Mike. According to 9to5Mac, the ESPN station will also stream of the World Cup, making it the first live sporting event to be streamed live through iTunes Radio. Note, Apple also added 42 local NPR stations. Isn’t this the sort of thing Sirius prided itself on?”
“With Apple’s cash and its obvious desire to become a media company that specializes in content, it’s only a matter of time before Apple begins discussions with popular channels like CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News, Bloomberg and so on,” WSP writes. “And once the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and NASCAR enters the mix, it’s game over for Sirius.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Bill” for the heads up.]
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