When it comes to the internet, innovation is king and one startup has positioned itself to enjoy online PR from the New York Times by adopting a cutting edge business model.
Rdio is a new internet music service that provides customers with access to a wide catalogue of artists for a monthly subscription fee.
According to the newspaper, which featured the new business in an article entitled Still Hoping to Sell Music By the Month, the entrepreneurs behind it are "reinventing a concept" that was first pioneered by the likes of Rhapsody and Napster.
Where Rdio - created by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the minds behind the popular Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing service - differs is that it is has its finger on the pulse of the latest online developments.
With the rise of web 2.0 and the growing power of the internet, early adopter companies are beginning to embrace the idea that more products and services will now be offered over the internet as subscriptions, as opposed to being sold through standard transactions, something known as cloud computing.
As internet-enabled laptops, cell phones and wireless hotspots become ubiquitous, Rdio intends to let users "seamlessly" access music from their PCs and portable devices anywhere with internet coverage, effectively removing much of the appeal of piracy.
In fact, according to the company's chief executive Drew Larner, the main challenge facing Rdio is simply persuading record companies - who have been historically slow to accept online distribution - to trust the pair behind the oft-abused Kazaa, which was used by many to illegally share copyrighted material.
"The ironies are very interesting," he told the New York Times.
"They understand content and they have always been up front with the labels about what they are trying to do."
Moving to allay any such fears, EMI's digital business development head Mark Piibe said to the publication: "They're businessmen with a real track record of innovation. They are bringing a lot of new ideas to music distribution and there is no reason why we wouldn't talk to them seriously."
As well as Rdio and Kazaa, Mr Zennstrom and Friis are also responsible for creating Skype, the VoIP application that lets people call each other all around the world from their PCs and mobile phones via the internet.
That program they sold to eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005, proving that innovation can pay, especially for people who know how to market their ideas correctly.
© Adfero Ltd
