UPDATED 00:06 EDT / DECEMBER 16 2014

NEWS

Bose to jump on streaming music bandwagon with own service

boseAudio equipment company Bose Corp. is jumping on the streaming music bandwagon by building its own service, according to a job placement it is currently advertising.

The Worcester, MA based manufacturer has advertised for a Senior User Experience Designer: Cloud Music Services on ZipRecruiter Inc.’s job board. Bose states that it is “seeking an expert Experience Designer to lead design and prototyping of our next generation streaming music platform and ecosystem of products.”

If there is any question as to whether the position related to Bose building its own system, versus say, supporting third party apps, the following line from the job description makes it clear (emphasis is ours): “You will help to develop a holistic view of the customer journey through the Bose ecosystem as it relates to our streaming music experiences.”

As Hyperbot notes, Bose doesn’t appear to be wasting time on developing the service either, as Bose includes in the job posting: “Join us to invent and realize exceptional experiences that will enable millions of customers to rediscover their love of music…We will move quickly and have an immediate and lasting impact on Bose’s streaming music products.”

It’s natural to analyze this as a deluded move into a hyper intensive marketplace that includes internet giants such as Google (Google Play Music All Access, YouTube Music Key,) Apple (Beats Music,) and startups including Spotify Ltd., Rhapsody International Inc., Rdio Inc., and others. And it’s a market place with ongoing regulatory issues as well, particularly when it comes to royalty payments.

Bose, though, may be different.

It would be a flight of pure fantasy to say that Bose could take on the likes of Spotify, but it doesn’t have to; the comparison isn’t one of apples to apples but apples to oranges, or perhaps more aptly a Rolls Royce to a Ford Focus. Bose offers a high end premium product with an intensely loyal following; sure it might not sell as many headphones, speakers or units such as Beats, Panasonic, Sony and others in the space, but globally it is a leader at the premium end of the market.

Bose selling its wares with its streaming service built in, to the exclusion of others, has to have a healthy chance of success, even as a premium niche player.

There’s no time frame on when Bose may be launching a streaming service, but we’d guess late 2015, more likely 2016.


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