The Coleman Insights team loves to bat provocative or thought-provoking topics around just for fun. We used to do it with regularity at lunch, but in pandemic times we’re relegated to GoToMeeting and email.
One such email was circulated on September 16th which took note of the new “Apple One” subscription plan that had just been announced the day before, which is scheduled to hit the market this Fall. The question posed: if people buy the subscription that includes Apple Music, how will that affect other subscriptions, like Spotify?
Since that email exchange:
- Spotify debuted a brand new morning show, “The Get Up,” combining news, pop culture, and entertainment, with music personalized to each listener;
- Spotify made it possible for podcast creators to use music in their episodes.
- SiriusXM is deep in negotiations on a new deal with its king of content, Howard Stern;
- Apple took Peanuts holiday specials off network TV;
- And just last week, Apple announced an exclusive deal for Jon Stewart to return with a new current events show.
This all happened in the last six weeks.
Last week, Warren Kurtzman talked about how Quibi’s investment in world-class content wasn’t enough to save it from underlying branding and distribution problems.
Don’t expect the “great content rush” to end anytime soon–the options and consumer choices just keep expanding. But while Apple and Spotify have established brands (although you can argue they’re expanding the definition of what their brands mean to the consumer), anyone in the content business should keep in mind that great content is never enough–it’s the strongest brands that win.
Just ask Quibi.
