SUBSCRIPTION MODELS

#1 Sirius XM

• Sirius XM, run a subscription model that is payable per month.
• The company has four major packages that provides subscribers with different content options that include music, news, sports, and video services either online via a PC or tablet or via their app.
• These packages vary in price as well as the type of content offered.
• The subscription packages include All Access which costs $20.99/month, Select which costs $15.99/month, Premier which costs $13/Month, and Essential which costs $8/month.
• All Access, Select, and Essential are the most popular subscription packages among consumers.

App/Services Pricing Structure

• Sirius XM has an app called SXM app which is available for both iOS and android.
• The app is free to download and there are no in-app purchases.

Partnerships

• In February 2019 Sirius XM completed their acquisition of Pandora after the deal was agreed upon in September and approved in November 2018.
• The partnership has helped both companies to have a reach of over 100 million listeners by combining Pandora’s streaming services and Sirius XM’s exclusive content and programming.
• Together they have created the world’s largest audio entertainment company.
• They hope that together they’ll be able to lead the way in digital music.

#2 Amazon Music

• Amazon Music unlimited, has only two major subscription models that includes a pay monthly model and an annual pay model. (S2)
• For Amazon Prime members, there is an incentive of a $2 discount for the monthly subscription and, therefore they get to enjoy the unlimited music service for $7.99 whereas non-prime members pay $9.99 per month for the same service.
• The incentive provided to Amazon Prime members helps to push for brand loyalty as well as encourage others to become Amazon Prime members so they may get to enjoy discounted service benefits.

App/Services Pricing Structure

• Amazon music app is free to download on both Android and iOS.
• The iOS version has some in-app purchases.

#3 Tidal

• Tidal offers several subscription models that are more demographically oriented.
• The company offers eight different subscription packages on a pay per month basis including: Premium — $9.99/month, HiFi — $19.99/month, Family Premium — $14.99/month, Family HiFi — $29.99/month, Student Premium — $4.99/month, Student HiFi — $9.99/month, Military Premium — $5.99/month, and Military HiFi — $11.99/month.

App/Services Pricing Structure

• Tidal can be downloaded for iOS and Android for free, but it app has in-app purchases.
• The app provides different pricing structures according to the subscription package.

Partnerships

• In 2018, Tidal announced its partnership with Samsung T.V., with the goal of launching a TV app.

#4 Spotify

• Spotify offers four major packages, three of which are paid monthly and one which is free but includes adverts.
• Other incentives from the company include discounts, trials, and other deals.
• The subscription packages of Spotify include Premium — $9.99/month, Premium Family Package — $14.99/month, and Premium Student — $4.99/month.
• All the paid packages are inclusive of Hulu ad support and Showtime at no extra cost.

App/Services Pricing Structure

• Spotify offers a free app, which allows its users to listen to music on-the-go through their smartphones for free.
• Users who already have upgraded their subscription to premium, get to enjoy more premium content.
• The in-app purchases for the app on iOS costs $12.99/month.

Partnerships

• Spotify and Samsung have had a partnership for quite some time, and recently they decided to extend their partnership by offering 6 months premium subscription on selected Samsung devices.

#5 LiveXLive

• LiveXLive has an offer running through Inverse that includes a pay per year package or pays per 5 years subscription plan.
• The cost of per year subscription plan is $47.88 while the 5-year plan costs $239.40.
• The company offers additional packages through it app that include LiveXLive Plus — $3.99 and LiveXlive Premium — $9.99.

App Pricing structure/Partnership

• At the end of 2017, LiveXLive acquired Slacker Radio at the costs of $50 million, a collaboration that gave birth to the LiveXLive App which is available on android and iOS.
• The new app offers one-touch access to "live events, audio streams, original episodic content, podcasts, video on demand, real-time live streams, and social sharing of content". (S10)
• The new LiveXLive app can be downloaded for iOS and Android devices, free of charge.
• Users also have the option to upgrade to advert-free premiums such as LiveXLive Plus for $3.99/month or the LiveXlive Premium for $9.99/month.

Research Strategy:

APPLE MUSIC

Pricing Structure Analysis

• Apple Music offers a three-month free trial. After that time, the user can choose between three different subscription plans.
• Apart from the"Student" plan which has a monthly cost of $4.99, the company offers an "Individual" plan and a "Family" plan, which cost $9.99 and $14.99 per month respectively.
• The "Student" plan is offered to college students only.
• All three plans include features such as: access to 50 million songs, online or offline listening, free trial with no commitment, ability to download 100,000 songs to the library, among others.
• When choosing the "Family" plan, a user can be able to give access to up to six people, give each member a personal account, have sharing freedom, and share iTunes purchases.

Partnerships/Acquisitions

• In December 2018, Apple acquired London-Based company Platoon, specialized in discovering and developing artists by providing them with resources to create music and develop relationships with labels. This acquisition helps Apple Music have original content and releasing exclusive music.
• For about $400 million, Apple bought the song identifier app, Shazam, in 2018. This acquisition will make possible to provide users with more and better ways to "discover, experience and enjoy music".
• Also in 2018, Apple and Amazon made a new partnership to integrate Apple Music in Amazon Echo devices. Although each of these companies have their own music streaming app and voice assistant device, the Alexa app in Echo devices will support Apple Music.

Additional/Interesting Facts

• As a 2019 "Back to School" promotion, Apple Music is offering students a six-month free trial, instead of the usual three months.
• Currently, Apple Music has more than 28 million paid subscribers in the US, surpassing Spotify by 2 million.

DEEZER

Pricing Structure Analysis

• Deezer offers a Free Plan, a Premium Plan, and a Family Plan. The Premium plan has a price of $0.99 per month (the first three months) and the Family Plan has a price of $14.99 per month.
• All three plans include access to 56 million tracks. However, the Free Plan is only available in mobile devices.
• The Premium and the Family plan include unlimited skips, offline mode, no ads, and are available on all devices.
• The Family Plan lets users have six different profiles.

Partnerships/Acquisitions

• In 2018, Deezer partnered with Amazon in order to make its app compatible with Alexa in 66 countries. This partnership makes Deezer "one of the most widely available services on Alexa".
• Also in 2018, the company partnered with Rotana Group, a media company from Dubai. Under this, Deezer will distribute Rotana’s content across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Additional/Interesting Facts

• As of January 2019, Deezer has lost two million subscribers from September 2017, with around seven million subscribers globally.

GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC

Pricing Structure Analysis

• Google offers a 30-day free trial and the option to purchase two different plans: the Individual plan and the Family plan.
• The Individual plan costs $0.99 per month, while the Family plan costs $149.00 per month and can provide service to up to six people.
• By subscribing, the user gets access to 40 million songs in any device, online or offline. Additionally, the user gets personalized recommendations, no ads while listening to songs, unlimited skips, among other features.

Partnerships/Acquisitions

• In October 2017, Google acquired 60db, a podcast app that focuses on "personalizing short-form audio for individual listeners", which is also an important feature for Google Play Music.

Additional/Interesting Facts

• At the end of April 2019, the company shut down Google Play Artist Hub. This was done as a step in the process to replace Google Play Music with YouTube Music.

IHEART RADIO

Pricing Structure Analysis

• The basic iHeartRadio application is free to download in any device. However, the company also offers iHearRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access.
• The iHearRadio Plus plan lets users play any song on demand, get unlimited skips, save songs from the radio to a playlist , among other features. This plan costs $4.99 to $5.99 per month.
• The iHeartRadio All Access plan has the same features as the Plus plan and also lets users get unlimited access to millions of songs and create unlimited playlists. The plan costs $9.99 to $12.99 per month.

Partnerships/Acquisitions

• in 2019, the company acquired Radiojar, an online audio technology company from Greece. This deal will allow iHeartMedia to provide "high quality audio experiences more effectively and efficiently".
• In 2018, iHeartMedia acquired Howstuffworks for $55 million. This acquisition solidifies iHeartRadio’s as "the #1 commercial podcast publisher" globally.
• Also in 2018, iHeartMedia acquired Jelli,Inc., a technology company whose platform is "the pioneering technology foundation for programmatic buying and selling of broadcast radio". This acquisition will let the company to continue creating a buying platform for brands.

Additional/Interesting Facts

• As of 2019, iHeartRadio has 128 million registered users.
• Also, iHeartMedia is the "number one commercial podcast publisher" worldwide, as it reportedly has 148 million downloads and streams per month. The company also has almost 17 million unique monthly users in the U.S.

PANDORA

Pricing Structure Analysis

• Pandora offers three plans for subscription: the Pandora plan, the Pandora Plus plan, and the Pandora Premium plan.
• The Pandora plan is free and it includes ad-supported stations ; playing of favorite podcasts ; personalized stations ; and unlimited skips with an ad.
• The Pandora Plus plan includes the same features as the Pandora, but it differs from this one as it has ad-free stations and unlimited skips without ads, as well as four offline stations.
• The Pandora Premium plan includes the same features as the Pandora Plus, but this plan also has the following features: playing of songs and albums, personalized playlists, unlimited offline listening, searching and playing any song, and making and sharing playlists.

Partnerships/Acquisitions

• In 2018, SiriusXM acquired Pandora for $3.5 Billion. This transaction represents the largest digital audio audience in the U.S., with 36 million subscribers from SiriusXM and 70 million monthly active users from Pandora.
• In May 2018, Pandora acquired AdsWizz, leader in digital audio advertising technology, for $66.3 million in cash and 9.9 million shares of Pandora common stock. This deal helps Pandora position itself in the audio industry.

Additional/Interesting Facts

• Pandora is a "leading online radio company" in America with more than two million active sessions in 2018. It is also estimated to increase its number of paid subscribers to almost 6.74 million by 2025.