The online monetary transfer business is one that is growing rapidly as users continue to adopt sending their friends cash through their smart phones. There are two key players are in the market space currently, Venmo and Google Wallet. The peer-to-peer payment space however is not dominated by a single company yet and has a lot of room for growth. These companies allow users to easily transfer cash through mobile apps from friend to friend. This online cash transfer happens quickly and easily allowing people to easily split bills or pay someone back without taking out cash. Users simply enter the payment amount and the friends name and the money is simply deposited in the selected friends bank account. These applications are newly popular and their popularity has led to interest from other parties trying to gain access to the space.

Snapchat recently launched “Snapcash” and integrated cash transaction feature using Square Cash. By going through an outside party for the cash transactions Snapchat puts users at ease knowing they can trust their debit card information is safe. The new payment option is already apart of users existing Snapchat account giving millions of people the access without them even having to download a new app.   Users simply have to enter their debit card information into the application and with the click of a button can send payments to anyone on their friend’s lists. Just like sending a photo user now can send cash.

Payment exchange apps overall have had wide acceptance and praise with many people finding them extremely helpful.  Though there is an overall positive surrounding the applications none individually have gained widespread adoption. The previously existing applications, Venmo and Google Wallet have struggled to gain adoption as they are marketed as new business models and require users to both download and trust these new companies. When entering this space Snapchat has an advantage, as it is a consumer app that people already have friends list created on and would give the technology to people who may never consider downloading it.

While Snapchat has just launched the friend-to-friend payment system the idea behind the system could open many doors for the application. Snapchat along has recently launched advertisements on the application. The advertisements range from a number of products and they allow users to watch short commercials about the product on the application. With Snapcash now integrated into the app, users could potentially have the ability to instantly purchase a product they see in an ad. If Snapchat were to go this route not only would they have great appeal to advertisers but would also generate another efficient service to their customers.   Further than the instant payments, Snapcash could also potentially reference debit card information to better target users with advertisements.

Snapcash is still in its beginning phases but with its current user base and potential for growth it could quickly become the leader in this new monetary exchange space.

Spotify has been in a long battle with the music industry over its controversial streaming business model. While the music industry has undergone a lot of change in the last decade it still hasn’t fully adjusted to the change, leaving the industry in somewhat of a standoff. Spotify, currently the leading streaming company, has been at the forefront of this stand off as they work to introduce the music industry to a new revenue model. Over the last several years Spotify has been making strides toward acceptance as they have worked to educate artists about their site and have steadily increased the royalties they pay out. This acceptance however hit a major hiccup 2 weeks ago, when Taylor Swift pulled her entire collection of music off the site.

On the subject Taylor stated, “I think there should be an inherent value placed on art. I didn’t see that happening, perception-wise, when I put my music on Spotify.”
Taylor has been vocal about her distaste of streaming services as she feels streaming sites are part of the reason album sales are shrinking. Though Taylor has voiced a negative opinion about streaming as a whole she has left her collection on both Beats Music and Rhapsody. Before pulling her collection off Spotify, Taylor had asked the site to make her content only available to paying users which Spotify responded was against their policy. Taylor also asked for her content to only be available outside the United States but this again was against Spotify’s policy. The two sites that still have Taylor’s content are sites that require a paid membership.

“With Beats Music and Rhapsody you have to pay for a premium package in order to access my albums. And that places a perception of value on what I’ve created.” – Taylor swift

While Taylor has made a very public separation from streaming, the real question is whether or not this will affect the Spotify. In response to the ordeal Spotify’s founder Daniel Ek released an open letter to the singer explaining why she made the wrong decision in pulling her music.

In the essay, “2 Billion and Counting” Daniel Ek wrote- “Taylor Swift is absolutely right: music is art, art has real value, and artists deserve to be paid for it. We started Spotify because we love music and piracy was killing it. So all the talk swirling around lately about how Spotify is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time. Our whole reason for existence is to help fans find music and help artists connect with fans through a platform that protects them from piracy and pays them for their amazing work.”- Daniel Ek
This letter makes a very important argument, which is Spotify makes money where it didn’t exist by combating illegal downloading. In the same letter the founder explains that Taylor was on track to make 6 million this year had she left her collection on Spotify. Further than the 6 million the number was on track to increase significantly every year as the site grows. Daniel Ek made it clear in the essay that Spotify is not against artists; rather they are working very hard to make sure artists are properly compensated.

“Here’s the thing I really want artists to understand: Our interests are totally aligned with yours. Even if you don’t believe that’s our goal, look at our business. Our whole business is to maximize the value of your music,” he said. “We don’t use music to drive sales of hardware or software. We use music to get people to pay for music. The more we grow, the more we’ll pay you.” –Daniel EK
The Spotify battle is long over as it is a matter of educating both the public and those in the music industry on the business model of streaming. Spotify’s response to Taylor shows that the site is willing to fight back against artists to make streaming successful. While Taylors move to take down her music got a lot of buzz it, also got a lot of people stepping up to defend Spotify.  If Spotify is able to continue its efforts to educate artist on the benefits of streaming, it may have a fighting chance.  Spotify has proven that they can handle even one to the biggest pop stars dismissing their site. Though the future is not clear, it looks like the streaming site is here to stay.

Facebook wants to enter the workplace and in a big way. In the next year Facebook hopes to launch a new side to its site that would allow colleagues to collaborate on projects, share documents and function as an in office communicator. In Facebook’s London headquarters the company says they have been developing the program for a long time.
The site would feature a very similar design to the existing personal site, but would strictly be for inner office collaboration. User’s personal profiles will have no connection to the work profiles. The site would feature similar news feed and group functions, allowing users to post content for the entire company as well as preform smaller team work. While much of what the site will feature is still speculation many have wondered how Facebook for work will rival preexisting office applications.
Forbes contributor Erika Morphy states- “that Salesforce Chatter is already a popular service used by thousands of Salesforce.com users. Slack has also become a popular collaboration service that’s challenging Atlassian’s HipChat and Campfire, with its clean interface for chatting with colleagues or sharing documents and links.”
Further than just communication sites alone there has been speculation about Facebooks profile feature and how it could function in a very similar way to LinkedIn. If users are able to create a public business profile that moves with them from organization to organization as a user changes jobs the site could function as an online resume tool.
While there are many existing office communicator application out there already, there is speculation that Facebooks well-known name will lead it to success. Many offices have had to ban Facebook across the country as their employees are too addicted to the site. Facebook in the office could prove to be very popular among employees leading many companies to switch communicators. More so then popularity the familiar interface would mean little transition time for companies as the majority of employees are already accustomed with how the site works. The counter to this argument being that most employees have no say over their company’s communication systems as it is often a decision made in IT departments. With Facebook at work the site will only be available to employees if the company as a whole signs up for the service.
Facebook also faces another issue, privacy; can it get companies to trust the site? In today’s corporate structure much of what happens within the walls of a company is top secret. Posting and collaborating on sensitive documents on the internet would be worrisome to many.
Facebook has many issues that it must look at to become successful in this office space, however if done right it has the possibility to change the game. Facebook at work is currently in the testing phase at a select few organizations across the country. Though it is still unclear when Facebook will officially launch the site, it is definitely something to watch for.

The music industry has waged a tricky battle in its fight against the ever-changing ways consumers obtain music. The music industry was once a dominant force in the entertainment world; at its peak in 1999, 943 million CD albums were sold. While the industry was at its peak, it was also on the verge of a slippery slope it wasn’t prepared for. In the same year, Napster made its debut, not only changing the way music was distributed but slashing the price to free. Napster took off in popularity gaining over 60 million users and dramatically changed consumers’ mindset on what the value of music was. As a legal response to illegal downloads, iTunes was created in 2003, but many believe that the four year lag was the industry’s fatal mistake.

iTunes created a digital music option for consumers, allowing the purchase of single tack for around $1 but, compared to free, $1 doesn’t look so appealing. iTunes became the dominant legal option for music sales over the next several years as the iPod changed the way consumers listened to music. Apple, while still making some profit from its music sales, wasn’t concerned with large margins on the digital tracks as the company’s profits were in the hardware it sold to hold the music. The iPod was Apple’s main priority and the iTunes store was just a part of making the iPod marketable to consumers. By offering consumers low prices on music, the iPod grew in popularity and, though legal digital downloads meant some revenue for artists, it wasn’t much.

“In the popular digital realm, a $9.99 download on a program like iTunes nets artists a modest 94 cents — less than a 10% cut. The record company takes $5.35 and Apple keeps the remaining $3.70.” -Investing Answers
iTunes was able to create a digital revenue stream for artists; however it was still a dramatic drop from the money physical CDs netted.

iTunes affected the industry in more ways than just price shifts, it caused an unbundling of the industry. iTunes offered consumers the option to purchase individual tracks as well as the full album. This dramatically shifted the average purchase amount, as consumers no longer needed to spend the full $9.99 for the album but, rather could pick and choose the songs they liked. In an industry that used to rely on a few track hits to boost a whole album, this posed a major problem. In the traditional media packaging format seen in many other areas of the entertainment industry, mediocre content is bundled with prime content and consumers pay for the entirety, with the prime content carrying much of the value. This change meant a content shift in the industry and the pressure on artists to produce hit after hit.

“Steve Jobs said to us, ‘There’re two things you have to accept: 99 cents for every single song, and every song has to be sold as a single.’ And we went home and swallowed hard because that was tough for us to accept for us as a music industry…. If certain songs were really popular we should be able to set the price at whatever we thought was the right price as opposed to the $1 price. Steve said, ‘You know, you’ve got to keep it simple, you’ve got to keep it clean.’”
-Chief Strategy Officer for BMG Music Entertainment when the iTunes Music Store launched

Apple was the site consumers used for digital downloads and Apple’s high market share meant it set prices.

There is no doubt that iTunes and illegal downloading presented the music industry with a number of obstacles but, though less obvious, it also presented opportunity. The digital age gave music the opportunity to be present everywhere and the ability to expand to a global playing field. Though iTunes hadn’t created the profit stream the industry has hoped for, it forever altered music consumption. Digital downloads offered instant gratification at a time when consumers wanted to be able to receive what they wanted with a few clicks of the mouse. iTunes gave consumers accessibility and, as with most things, give the consumer what they want and they will continue to consume. In iTunes’ first year, it sold 25 million digital tracks and the number rose to an incredible 1 billion by 2006.

“Apple made music ubiquitous in a way it never was before. And they set music free from large PCs. Earlier MP3 players did that, too, but not like this. That ubiquitousness has driven a consumption of music that is unparalleled in the history of the world.”
-Jeff Price, founder of TuneCore and co-founder of spinART Records

Apple was able to make big strides in the digital music space but it never was able to fully bridge the gap the loss of physical CDs created. iTunes was thought of as the industries answer to illegal downloads but did not save the industry. However, it did start the process for the industry to reinvent itself. iTunes had two main problems it wasn’t able to solve. The first was as a distributer, it didn’t please the music producers and artists who received little revenue from the site. The second was iTunes was too late to the game, and was stuck fighting a consumer mindset that still remembered times of free music.

iTunes two main flaws opened the doors for a new business model to enter the game, streaming. Music streaming entered the industry offering consumers an all-you-can-eat buffet of music and the pay-for-song model crumbled. Streaming gave music to consumers for free and fulfilled the consumer ideals from the Napster days. A number of new music applications following the streaming model have popped up, with one of the most notable being Spotify. In 2011, Spotify launched its service creating a major new business model for the industry. With the creation of Spotify, consumers could now get access to unlimited music for free, or for $5-$10 dollars a month, if they paid for a subscription. The free version of Spotify is supported by ads, while paid users have access to a premium service that is ad-free. Spotify has been growing at a rapid pace the last two years and in May of this year it announced that it had reached 10 million paid users. While 10 million paid users may sound like a lot, the number is not even close to the 30 million users who use the site for free. Spotify’s rapid consumer approval meant it had the possibility to dramatically changed the industry once again. iTunes proved that consumers want easily accessible music for very little money; Spotify took this model one step further by offering a free option. Spotify though a hit with consumers, didn’t solve iTunes first problem, revenue to producers.

In Spotify’s business model, executives have stated that 70% of the revenue from the site goes to royalties, but even with this large percentage, many in the industry haven’t felt they are properly compensated. With this pay structure, artists end up receiving fractions of cents per song played ($.0033) on average. Spotify’s pay structure brought up a tricky problem for the company as the ($.0033) was per stream, meaning a single customer could rack up multiple royalties on the same song. In a more technical break down, the royalties are paid out to artists by taking an artists total streams compared to total streams for Spotify, with the largest artists getting the most money. While the multiple royalties could potentially add up to the same revenue per customer as a single iTunes track purchase, Spotify created the problem of sticker shock with its producers. Artists and music producers are given their earning figures on a per stream basis and fractions of a cent didn’t go over well with already frustrated musicians. Spotify’s problem, like many other streaming services, was that it had created a new business model in an industry that didn’t understand it. Spotify’s revenues, while reoccurring, look shocking next to the one-time revenue an artist gets from iTunes. Spotify came into the industry at a time when artist were already frustrated by the loss of the golden days of music, leaving it to fight an uphill battle from the start.

As Apple proved with iTunes the music industry must adapt to its consumers’ needs and Spotify has been able to just that. In 2013, digital sales dropped from $1.34 billion to $1.26, while the number of songs streamed continued to increase, reaching over 118 billion raising income from streaming by 51%. Spotify has proven to be something the industry cannot ignore, and streaming, while a contested model, looks like it’s around to stay. Though Spotify has been at the center on controversy since its start, as it entered a situation that was already a disaster, could it be the answer to illegal downloading that Apple wasn’t?

Spotify has the potential to do what Apple does on a much larger scale, which is dramatically increase the consumption of music. In Spotify’s few years of existence, it has already proven to be an extremely effective outlet to share music, not only boosting the amount of music consumers listen to, but the variety of music as well. The site spreads music very quickly and through playlists introduces new music to consumers. Consumers using the site can also generate playlists and share them, creating a social interaction with the music. Spotify goes even one step further with publicity as it offers the ability for users to share what they are listening to in live time on their other social media accounts like Facebook.

“Streaming is about access versus ownership,” says Fredric Vinna, Spotify’s vice-president of product. “Now you can have up to 30 million songs in your pocket. We want to connect fans and artists, fans and brands, fans with fellow fans,” he says.

In this way, Spotify has been able to create a music sharing space that goes past the traditional outlets of the past such as YouTube. Further then just allowing users to discover new music, Spotify is able to add personalization to the business model. Using complex algorithms the company can monitor and track consumers patterns, allowing the company to make personal music recommendations. Spotify is continuing to expand on this personalization model, adding new ways to benefit consumers by analyzing their use.

“We will even have movement sensors in Windows phones that will help us match a song list to the cadence of your exercise routine.”- Fredric Vinna

Spotify has to potential to greatly surpass Apple’s consumer reach and do what the music industry needs most, increase consumption. As a service that gives the consumer what they want, Spotify has been able to dominate music distribution. The only question left is, will this dominance equate to revenues?

Spotify offers fractions of a penny per stream, but fractions of a penny multiplied by millions of plays add up. With Spotify’s growth already and its potential growth in the future the streaming model might actually turn out to be one that is profitable. Spotify has not only seen growth in its free users, but has been growing largely with its subscription based users as well, surpassing 10 million. If this growth continues with subscription-based users, Spotify will not only see an increase in the number of streams, but will be able to raise royalty payments, further increasing profits for artists. In a study done by Russ Crupnick of NPD Group, a respected music consultancy. They found that looking at the U.S. internet population of 190 million, only 45% buy music of any form. The average annual spend of that minority is only $55.45, while the average paying Spotify user generates more the two times that amount. Spotify says it has paid out more than $1 billion in royalties since its launch in 2008 to the end of 2013. That is certainly some profit and while it mightnot be close to what the golden ages of the music industry brought in, Spotify has been able to create profit on consumer preferences. With every new user, Spotify increases revenues and in turn increase the amount of royalties they can pay out.

This chart shows Spotify’s total royalty payments per year-

“Last year we saw some growth in music industry revenues – the first time in ages,” says Gennaro Castaldo, spokesman for the BPI (2013). “We’re pointing forward again and streaming is helping with that recovery.”

While the industry was hit hard in 2011, it has since been on the track to recovery. Artists can no longer rely solely on album sales so they have diversified their revenue streams to compensate. The music industry which in 2004 could have been given up for dead has made a remarkable recovery and is continuing to head towards the direction of growth and profitability. Streaming sites like Spotify have changed the economics behind the music industry by changing the way money flows from consumer’s hands to the artists. Consumers have certainly benefited from these streaming sites in the form of lowers cost and better user experience and artists have seen benefit as well in the form of increased consumption. Though the industry has not been able to fully recover, the revenues it once generated, it is well on its way.

$6 Dollar Standoff

As a 20 year old college student I’ve just started my journey into the working world. On top of being a student, I work part time in the music industry. Like most industries, you start at the very bottom and that comes with a cents on the dollar paycheck known as minimum wage. My own minimum wage paychecks, however, weren’t my first experience with the low dollar amount. Growing up I watched my father start a company that employed many minimum wage workers. Coming from a upper class family, I have never had to put a value to my time, and money has never been something that was a daily worry. While I was living comfortably though, many people that worked for my family’s business were living pay check to pay check. Starting my first job made me look at that business from a different perspective. My job made me ask, was I only worth $9? This new evaluation of myself made me take a second look at what minimum wage meant and the difficulties it presents.

This debate is very relevant to me, as the minimum wage increase has both positive and negative effects on my life. On one side, my check could definitely use the boost as just the commute to work itself eats up a third of the money. If I needed to solely live off my pay check it would be nearly impossible, especially in LA. On the other side, however, business owners like my father see the minimum wage increase as a threat to their company. With the city of Los Angeles looking to increase the wage to $15 it’s not just a dollar here and there, but a substantial new cost a company must undertake. With a personal interest in myself, and a deep interest in the success of my family business, this issue has become one to make me think deeper into why the minimum wage exists.

The most obvious claim is that we must value our workers more than the national average wage of $7.25. Many recent strikes have workers demanding wages that support their families, something more than a “starvation wage.” I can resonate with their frustration and the disappointment when opening the checks in the mail. If I was in a minimum wage situation indefinitely and it was my only source of income, I would need more money, but there is a lot more to this issue.

In small businesses that employ minimum wage workers, the wage allows them to be successful through competitive prices for their customers. Raising that wage by $6 more means huge new costs that must be shifted somewhere. I discussed this issue with my father who blatantly put it, there’s only two places for the new costs to come from, raise prices or cut jobs. In this situation companies will be forced to raise prices by potentially 50% to 60% just to compensate. The other option, firing workers, from my father’s perspective means the first to go will be those with the fewest skills, the current workers at or near minimum wage. Wages are set by supply and demand for labor. Using a minimum wage artificially influences that balance. So now you will have minimum wage workers making more money, but they have to spend more to live because they purchase goods and services from places that use minimum wage labor. The LA Times put the numbers into perspective “overall unemployment at the height of the Depression was about 25%. Especially for low-skill workers and for young workers, the two groups of workers who will be disproportionately hit by a minimum-wage increase, ours is a labor market in crisis.” The minimum wage is a struggle for business across the board as low production costs are top priority, and affordable labor is a necessity for operations.

The minimum wage increase doesn’t just effect the bottom line workers pay in a company it also affects company moral. As a minimum wage worker I do feel less valued than other employees because I make the least amount possible. While many people think raising the minimum wage would help workers feel more valued, it in fact has the opposite effect. There is a negative psychological effect with raising the minimum wage. When people earn raises and their pay goes up from the minimum wage, they feel good that they are now more valued. I myself would love to be able to say that I make more than base pay. When the wage goes up and workers are again making just minimum wage then they aren’t happy, and they want even more. Why should someone that has taken 10 years to earn $15 now be happy that someone brand new to the company at an entry level will make just as much as them. They will want a $6/ hr raise too. So the domino effect happens and it destroys companies and workers moral. Raising the minimum wage affects salaried managers as well. To be salary you must make at least double the minimum wage, so when the minimum goes up not all managers are making enough and now they are reclassified as hourly workers. This lowers their moral as they are no longer in this higher category of management. This just happened at our family business when the minimum wage increased from $8 to $9 as a lot of the front line managers were making $16 to $17.

This debate certainly isn’t easily answered as it is a complex issue with two very different sides. The minimum wage increase is a perfect case of putting oneself in the others shoes, it is a debate with each side having very little experience with the others circumstances. This lack of understanding is what has created a standoff in Los Angeles over $6. My unique situation has allowed me to gain some insight into the differing perspectives and see why each side is willing to battle so hard.