Competitive Analysis
Stanford on iTunes leverages off of the iTunes platform to deliver Stanford-affiliated media online. Among its collection is a category/album titled Stanford Musicians. Here, you can find approximately 130 songs available for free download. The site allows for easy categorization of the music by title, artist, and genre. Also, because the site is layered on top of the iTunes platform, it can use iTunes' built-in search to find content.
iTunes U also has the advantage that there are many users who already use the iTunes software and Store and therefore are familiar with the user interface. This familiarity, while a blessing in certain cases, can also be a critical impediment for widespread use of iTunes U because not all potential Stanford music enthusiasts may be willing to use iTunes to access the music. Furthermore, the iTunes software is not available for all operating systems (OS) such as GNU/Linux, putting users of those OSes at a disadvantage even if they wish to use iTunes.
Another downside to iTunes U is that it contains no community-interaction features. Thus, while a powerful music delivery platform with an easy user interface, iTunes U would not be able to build a community around its content, which reduces the site’s “stickiness” factor. Cardinal Music, on the other hand, due to its forum feature would be able to foster a community where both artists and enthusiasts would be able to interact with each other. The social networking aspect of Cardinal Music would ultimately make it a more attractive option for Stanford music enthusiasts than iTunes U, especially since Cardinal Music can in fact search the iTunes U’s song database.
Last.fm
The strongest competitor in terms of features to Cardinal Music is Last.fm, which is owned by CBS Interactive. Last.fm contains a highly polished user interface with numerous features. It also offers producers/artists free upload service. Furthermore, its royalty program provides a means of revenue for artists whenever their music is streamed to users. Last.fm also offers subscriptions for upgraded services for its users, such as not having to view advertisements and having priority on the last.fm servers.
Cardinal Music, essentially, would be considered as an attempt to emulate last.fm for a specially focused environment. This focus, in fact, could be considered the primary advantage of Cardinal Music over last.fm. Although last.fm’ larger user base and its high volume of traffic are positive facets, those very features would make it very hard for a relatively unknown musician from the campus to gain visibility. On the other hand, if such an artist were to enter the upper echelons of visibility on last.fm, then he would have access to an audience far larger than what would be expected in Cardinal Music.
One final advantage that Cardinal Music has over Last.fm is the Cardinal Music has the ability to search the iTunes database for Stanford music.
Individual Artist Websites (e.g. Birds Can Fly and envelope)
The primary advantage that individual websites have over Cardinal Music is that the artist has far more control on how to design their personal space. Thus, they would be able to channel a particular atmosphere for their music, which would not be possible within Cardinal Music due to its one-style template. Even if Cardinal Music were to support multiple templates, it would still fall short of the ability to build a custom-designed website for oneself.
Cardinal Music’s advantage over individual artists sites is that Cardinal Music would be able to provide an artist with a larger audience and thereby greater visibility. Furthermore, Cardinal Music would be able to give the artists reliable hosting with decent access speeds, which was something that a personal website may not be able to offer, as in the case of envelope.
Finally, Cardinal Music can be a supplement to an artist’s personal websites just as in the case with Last.fm. This would ensure artists a large audience while being able to maintain their personal sites. For the enthusiasts, this would still provide an easy way to access artists as well as give them the opportunity to become more immersed in artists’ contents through the personal websites.
