We7 relaunch pins hopes on web radio

The digital music service We7 has changed its market tactics in its battle with its competitors Spotify, the new service will now put personalised internet radio at heart. We7 has let fans play specific songs and albums on demand, but will now focus on providing radio style webcasts tailored to each users tastes. At present, the company has three million users per month in the UK. Although the company has also reported that fewer than 10,000 of those are paying subscriptions compare with Spotifys 500,000 across Europe. Thew new Internet Radio Plus feature will be similar to those offered by Last.fm and the US streaming service Pandora. The chief executive for We7, Steve Purdham, has stated that the company introduced the feature without any fanfare in January, and by October it accounted for well over half other songs played through the site. He said, The on demand function will still be there. Were not taking anything away were just changing the emphasis because the consumer has said this is the way I prefer to listen to my music. Fifty one million people in the UK listen to radio and thats how most music is consumed in the mass market. It is hoped that the relaunch of this service will help to ease the financial burden on the company. The royalties paid per song on radio style services are roughly one third of those paid when a user chooses to stream to a specific song on demand, according to We7.