Spotify Launches in NZ, have we arrived?

As Spotify launches in NZ, does this mark a bit of a turning of the corner for the internet world in NZ?

Now Spotify is not the largest property on the internet that NZ has been waiting for, but I think it is a significant step in the right direction for many reasons.

Firstly it is a widely loved streaming service that has slowly made it\’s way across the globe. Unsurprisingly, NZ is not early on the release timetable, but with it\’s launch here we do not have to look longingly offshore for another service out of our reach.

Second, it is another legal content service to be added to the few currently in NZ. With Quick Flix and TV Ondemand peoples choices are becoming wider with more content online. Add Spotify (and Rdio) to the mix and online content is becoming more and more compelling. With the Commerce Commission\’s investigation of SkyTV, their tying up of the distribution rights to many items of content will be under more scrutiny.

Is this  the start of a change to an avalanche of online services and will it bring the choice that we have been calling out for.

Will it take something like Netflix to finally push it over the edge?

I want to see more content via the internet, whether I consume it via my PC (which is the only way I can at the moment) or via an internet connected TV, we should be given the choice for content and the distribution.

I think the traditional rule makers in this industry need to change their thinking. What they need to do is work out, in a blue sky way, how consumers have all of their needs fulfilled. Build that infrastructure and then build the monetisation around that. Currently, there are hanging on to the shreds of their old model and squeezing it for everything they can get.

They know that things are changing, but they are not bold enough to make the step willingly.

Maybe they need a push