Rdio called Spotify a ‘boring, spreadsheet-like‘ experience, but what if the entire subscription space has a far bigger problem?  Well, according to one of the most agile shapers of culture, that’s exactly what’s happening here.  Here’s what Jimmy Iovine, a top Universal Music Group executive and Beats cofounder, just told the San Francisco Chronicle:

 

“Right now, subscription music online is culturally inadequate. It needs feel. It needs culture. What Apple has in the downloading world is very, very good. But subscription has an enormous hole in it, and it’s not satisfying right now.”

Perhaps technology is one thing, but technology that truly connects on a cultural level is something entirely different.  In that light, the question is whether Spotify and its competitors need more soul to survive.  And, whether this is a harbinger of huge changes ahead for MOG.

That is, if all the acquisition rumors that Beats is about to acquire MOG are true.  For now, Iovine is only hinting at that deal. “I can’t show the magic trick,” Iovine relayed.

 

“But right now the services are utilities. We only see things in a complete thought.”