Goodbye, Rdio

Don’t look now, but, just as Microsoft finally killed off Zune, another music streaming service bites the dust, as well: Rdio filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. And in light of that, Pandora snapped up the struggling music service.

In a field where Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Google Music, Deezer and, yes, Pandora have claimed most of the market, bit players like Rdio will struggle to survive. And with this new development, this only goes to show that Rdio really did struggle to stay relevant in a field that no longer has room for a tiny company that couldn’t keep up. So it simply makes sense that a bigger, older player will snap it up.

Pandora, by contrast, was already on the scene even before Spotify came on the scene. While Spotify is only 9 years old, Pandora is already a 15-year-old company. Given the fact that Pandora only serves the United States, Australia and New Zealand, it’s surprising that Pandora’s 79.4 million active subscribers surpasses Spotify’s 75 million global subscribers. By acquiring Rdio, the company stands to add 32 million subscribers to its profit base.

Rdio is the brainchild of Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Sadly, unlike Skype, the music streaming product didn’t enjoy a similar success or longevity. It does share Skype’s fate with Pandora’s acquisition, though. Skype was acquired by eBay in 2005 and then by Microsoft in 2011.

The Verge breaks down Rdio’s so-called “death” in this extensive exposé: https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/17/9750890/rdio-shutdown-pandora

In other news, another music service is also winding down: Apple is shutting down the streaming service for its acquisition, Beats Electronics. The service shutdown is scheduled on Nov. 30. Subscribers to Beats Music will be able to migrate to Apple Music.

Read more on the Beats Music shutdown: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/apple-beats-music-1.3320922

In a niche where there are too many players, I guess a potential market of 3.096 Billion just isn’t big enough to fit one more music streaming service. Rest In Peace, Rdio, and may Pandora make good things out of your ashes.