Most streaming listeners will not subscribe, now or ever. The 80/20 rule is that the 80% will never subscribe.
Most streaming listeners prefer minimal engagement. Having to engage is a problem. Non-interactive apps like Pandora provide more value than interactive ones like Spotify. The 80/20 rule is that 80% prefer passive options.
Out of the 20% who might subscribe, what are they paying for? Engagement reduction:
- Recommendations to free them from having to manually find their daily listening
- Time saving on the labor of Bittorrenting, buying, ripping, etc
- Storage of saved finds and playlists, to reduce the need to find these again
- Social information about what peers are listening to.