Spotify is cool. But…

So I posted recently about being jazzed about Spotify, and, I was totally geeked to try it out. I’ve been using it now for about 2 weeks and feel like I have a good sense about the product and it’s features.

But, what I have found WAY more compelling are all of the articles anad conjecture that have made it’s way online regarding the service over the past 2-4 weeks. Some people have even claimed Spotify to be an “iTunes killer” which I find just completely ludicrous.

Then there are people that claim Spotify and Netflix are the ultimate bait/switch experiences as they are both heavily fortified by content providers (true) such as Hollywood for Netflix and the music industry for Spotify (also true) respectively.

To me, both of these points of view miss the boat entirely. Let’s take this notion of Spotify as iTunes killer.

The issue at hand is not a new model coming to replace another. If we go back in time, iTunes was more than a new model for the business of music. It was a new EXPERIENCE and catered to a shifting demand from music consumers. Folks wanted their music digital and Apple merely provided that means to do so wrapped in a compelling experience and more importantly, managed and served in AWESOME software (iTunes) and hardware to play it in (the iPod). All Apple cared about then and now, is selling devices. They don’t give 2 sh**s about being in the business of music. They care about selling devices and iOS. PERIOD.

So, taking that point of view, Spotify is merely a new OPTION for music consumers. For the folks that love iTunes, they can still BUY their music, share it across iOS powered devices and synch them to multiple computers at home/work and stream that content throughout the house via a local wireless network (preferably Apple’s of course). For Spotify fans (and other services like Pandora/Rdio/GrooveShark/Rhapsody/etc), users can STREAM endless content for a flat fee monthly and sync that content in the form of playlists to their mobile device of choice via the TOTALLY awesome Spotify app.

The conversation should be about OPTIONS for the consumer, not about “killers” of other services. In the end, this is what we as consumers want; options. I LOVE having the choice of services as options to facilitate my music listening and consumption habits. I can see myself using both a streaming service like Spotify side by side to the vendor/service I trust to purchase from (iTunes). It also makes sense to me. At the gym, I LOVE listening to my Spotify playlists through the Spotify iPhone app while I pound out a couple miles on the treadmill. At home, I like to fire up my iTunes app and stream my music throughout the house that I paid for. It works, and it makes sense to use both. To me.

Of course, there’s the future to consider too that Apple is marching too. With iCloud looming out there in the future, we can expect Apple to provide a new layer on TOP of iTunes that provides both streaming and purchase letting users store their purchases in Apple’s cloud service and stream from the same place. Now, when THAT happens, this notion of killers MIGHT be a conversation to have. Might.

Until then, I like the options we have and I think the many services out there will all mature (Pandora is set to launch and entirely new experience soon as well) to a point where options will be the conversation. Not killers.