ReadWriteWeb

The only reason streaming web music hasn't completely killed all other forms of music distribution is the fact that it's not available when you're traveling across wireless networks - say, in a car. Well hold on to your hats and start canceling your satellite radio subscriptions, Pandora is taking to the road.

There were a ton of great products launched in 2009 by big companies and startups alike, but in this post we focus on the best products released by startups.

The easiest way to become a leading product in your industry is to meet a need better than anyone else. The following 10 have proven themselves with great features, substantial marketplace momentum and, most importantly, a game-changing approach to solving a problem.

If the rumors are true, then something is afoot in the Apple music camp. According to a recent article in Bloomberg, Apple is in talks to acquire online music service Lala. If a sale is finalized between the two companies, a number of new music monetization models can emerge and with Apple holding the supply chain from devices to players to downloads, a streaming music component may prove devastating to others.

MOG's $5 all-you-can-eat streaming music subscription service has finally launched. Although we interviewed CEO David Hyman in mid October, the music industry has changed considerably in the last two months. Imeem sold to MySpace for a song, and competitor Spotify is rumored to be delaying a United States launch as it refuses to enter North America with a paid-only version. We spoke to MOG CEO David Hyman to find out his thoughts on the industry and why his service is different from his competitors.

In 2008 the idea of another subscription-only music service was enough to get your knickers in a torrent. Sure Rhapsody was doing well, but they'd been around for forever and in 2008, freemium was the music model du jour. With a year to reflect, co-founder of the Future of Music Coalition and longtime San Fran Music Tech Summit organizer Brian Zisk tells us what it takes to survive in today's music environment.

Let's face it: the music industry is broken. Labels charge stations and providers exorbitant fees; independent sites have little chance of recouping their costs; and in the end, the listening experience is fragmented and confusing.

In our current model, a company like Grooveshark pays a fee for your stream even if you have access to a song via a separate paid subscription service or download. In other words, labels are getting paid twice on songs you already own the listening rights to. In order to change that, Playdar offers us a chance to search for music by artist and song as well as access the files we already own.

The question period after today's launch of Google's OneBox music search focused a great deal on the project delivering users with easy "legitimate music" versus other illegitimate sources. While discussion was centered around squashing the millions of illegal torrent files available for download, the truth is that a number of streaming music sites like Grooveshark have worked hard to pen legitimate label deals. While some may wonder why iLike and Lala were chosen above others to benefit from the Google deal, many more are worried that the companies will be unable to offset label fees via premium subscriptions and advertising.

Just when you thought media darling Spotify was going to be the sexiest music service of the year, music blogging platform MOG is announcing plans to offer a $5 dollar per month, all-you-can-hear music service. In an interview with MOG CEO David Hyman, ReadWriteWeb
learned that tomorrow morning the company will announce deals with Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI. While other services are scrambling to sign licensing agreements with the four major US labels, MOG All Access will launch before November 26. It looks like Americans will have plenty to celebrate this Thanksgiving.

In an aside at yesterday's Bandwidth Music Conference, MOG CEO David Hyman mentioned closing a $5 million dollar round of funding with Menlo Ventures. The plucky editorial-based music network offers more than 6000 blog posts per week and an in-depth look at everything from indy to top 40 tracks. The service also offers Rhapsody music integration and a discovery interface with millions more of streaming tracks. ReadWriteWeb caught up with Hyman shortly after his panel to talk about his upcoming plans.

Musicians and their fans are meant to be hip, sometimes tragically so.
RWW recently reviewed 18 streaming music services and our readers still had at least a dozen more suggestions. New and innovative music sites are springing up like daisies this summer, so at first glance when Billboard magazine announces the launch of their new online community, smaller independent sites should be shaking in their boots. Powered by streaming music from Lala.com, a Ticketmaster concert sales engine and All Music Guide's artist info, Billboard aims to offset waning sales and encourage a new generation of fans.