Netflix vs. NetTracks Business Comparison

We compare the business prospects of these two. The case is made that NetTracks business prospects are more compelling

Media Retention

Netflix and NetTracks both use streaming, but for different reasons.

Netflix The movies and TV shows might only be watched once, if at all. If someone wanted to retain a movie or TV Show, they would instead purchase it, either on physical media (DVD) or on Apple Movies, say. Streaming benefits the catalogue owners who prefer that end-users not retain copies of the media when the licence is ‘for a limited time’.

NetTracks Musicians' backing tracks are much more likely to be played repeatedly. Hence, NetTracks' in-app track retention is a key aspect of NetTracks. Here, the streaming benefits are the frictionless acquisition of the tracks and, importantly, the automatic association of highly valuable metadata.

Metadata

Musician’s metadata is a unique selling prospect of NetTracks.

Netflix Within Netflix, the key benefit of movie and TV show metadata is in search! After enjoying a movie, the user can search for others by the same director or starring the same actor. Similarly, Netflix can use that same metadata for recommendations, promoting continued use.

NetTracks Musicians' backing tracks uniquely benefit from musical metadata such as musical key, tempo, groove, and arrangement. In listening apps, like Apple Music, these are merely of passing interest, but in play-alongs apps, they are key to the experience. Before playing along, the musician wants to know things like (i) what key it is in, (ii) whether or not there is an 8-bar intro before the song starts, and (iii) if this is an uptempo rendition. No existing audio file players, provide this kind of metadata. Additionally, our musician's audio file player allows changes to tempo, musical key, and arrangement, and knowing the original state of the audio, allows us to advise the before and after of each change.

Comparing Benefits

Netflix Introducing streaming to the hiring of movies and TV shows reduced acquisition friction, and also removed the risk of copyright theft that came with DVDs. It was a major benefit to the movie houses and a convenience to the end-user.

NetTracks Introducing streaming for the acquisition of musicians' backing tracks is a major convenience for end-users, not only for getting the audio onto their devices but, more importantly, for getting the associated metadata into an app designed to make the best use of it. This is a more substantial benefit to end-users than Netflix streaming. It also brings benefits to catalogue owners - now their content can be both more easily acquired and more thoroughly appreciated.

Summary

The NetTracks business prospect is so much more than a poor imitation of Netflix’s. It is crucially different. It makes musicians’ backing tracks much more useful and usable than before. It brings more enjoyment to those who use NetTracks for their play-along tracks.