What’s A Marketer to Do? Android Making Advances

It’s hard enough being a marketer these days with all of the options and all of the things that you are supposed to already know. By the way, you are an expert in traditional offline media, all forms of online new media, all digital out of home options, every aspect of social media including all geo-location options, paid search and search engine optimization, right? If not, you are certainly a slacker and should not be part of the new world order of marketing .

Now add to the mix the real mobile landscape that is shaping up. At this time last year it is doubtful that the many would have anticipated the following chart from Nielsen (if you claim you did then congrats, you are obviously better than the rest of us). So far in 2010 Android is the leading mobile OS among recent US smartphone acquirers.

So Android is real and it is gaining speed. For all of you Android and Apple fanboys and girls this is not to say which is better or worse. It’s just to say that it is. So relax if you feel like your platform of choice is being attacked in any way. It’s not. What is apparent though is that RIM is in trouble while Apple and Android devices are likely to run the roost before too long. Here is a picture of the overall marketshare pattern for this year.

How does this impact marketers? Well, it certainly doesn’t make it any easier. If the pattern indicated by the charts above continues then it will be critical that marketers looking to reach the most of their market will not be able to choose between Apple and Android for app development. They will need to do both. It’s that simple. The bigger question is what to do about BlackBerry but we’ll save that for another time.

What are you doing when it comes to app development for your mobile strategy? Are you leaning one way or the other or are you diving into both the Android and Apple pools at the same time?

Strategies developed today will definitely need to remain flexible because until Apple breaks the chains of AT&T the Android market will continue to flourish. Remember I am not saying which is better. I’m just sayin’.

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Enjoy Your Music Everywhere You Go with Rdio

Rdio is an amazing music application that I’ve had the pleasure of trying out for their 3-day free trial period. I learned via their Twitter account that you will have the option to extend your trial to 10 days once the 3 days is up — nice to know. Although this is not a free application, when you think about the benefits of using it you may just feel that it is worth the monthly fee. This app not only lets you listen to your music from everywhere but the mobile app helps you save time and space.

Social Media Integration

You can link Rdio to your Facebook, Twitter and/or Last.fm accounts. This way you can share your favorite songs and playlists on your Facebook wall and Twitter stream. You get to choose which songs you want to share and on which sites (as seen below). You can even recommend the song to a specific friend (on Rdio or Facebook). Linking your Last.fm account will allow you to scrobble your music and track what you’re listening to.

Rdio Desktop

You can download their Adobe AIR application to match songs from your existing library on iTunes or Windows Media Player. “It reads through your artists, albums, and songs and all the ones available on Rdio will be added to your Rdio Collection.” No files are transferred during this process.

The desktop application also lets download music that you buy directly from the Rdio website. When the download it complete it is added to your iTunes or Windows Media Player library. Lastly, you can even play music using the desktop app without needing to have the browser open. Just fill up your queue, close your browser and enjoy your music.

Rdio Mobile

You can currently get Rdio on your Blackberry, iPhone and iPod Touch; Rdio for Android is coming soon. Having access via mobile lets you sync music from the website to be played on your mobile device. I have tried the app on my iPod Touch and it works wonderfully. You can view your collections, playlists and even search through your music.

Your music is synced automatically upon opening the app and once it is synced you can listen to your music no matter where – no Internet connection is needed.

I really find the iPhone app useful because you no longer need to add music to your device; you can simply sync it through Rdio. If you’re someone who has a lot of music on your device, this is space that can now be used for other things like apps, images or videos. It also save you time because now there’s no need to connect your device to your computer and then wait for it to sync; Rdio does this flawlessly and within minutes – no chords needed.

Observations

The website is very easy to use and navigate. There is a search bar for finding music but you can also browse new releases, top charts and recommendations. You can also see activity and stats for each song like number of plays, number of collections it has been added to, number of playlists it has been added to, etc. You’re also able to add reviews to songs, albums and artists. I also love the ability to add songs to a queue. I use Blip.fm quite often and this is something that they do not have but I wish they did.

One downside is that there doesn’t seem to be a large selection of music; I was unable to find a lot of the songs that I was looking for. Their content partners are currently Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, EMI, The Orchard and INgrooves; they say that new music is constantly being added.

Subscription

Rdio Web $4.99/month – Unlimited web access

Rdio Unlimited $9.99/month – Unlimited web access, unlimited mobile access, sync to mobile phone

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