I’m not a huge fan of predictions for the coming year…especially when it comes to lists longer than 3. With that said, here is my outlook on music in 2012. Here are the three things that I believe will have the most impact.

1) Google Music will match or take over Amazon’s digital music sales market share.
– With dominance in the SEM, Organic Search, and Mobile phone OS + handset devices, they are poised to scale the digital music launch of Nov 2011.
– As more market share is taken by Android devices in the smart phone world, users will naturally flow into a new music interaction that connects online and mobile devices with the trusted Google name.

2) iTunes will launch music subscriptions.
– They have all the market knowledge they need from users on all of the IOS apps that do music subs, i.e. Pandora, Rhapsody, RDIO etc.
– They have the infrastructure in place after the purchase of LaLa.com in 2010.
– They have the hardware connectivity and mobility in place between computer, mobile phone, tablet to home entertainment with the Apple TV.

3) Geo-location connectivity with artists and live music will become the new marketing.
– Social apps like Gowalla, Instagram, and Foursquare will lead the pack with fan & artist interactions that are real-time and deeper than ever.
– Augmented Reality will become a prominent tool for artists and brands to connect with fans to unlock exclusive content that touches people like never before.

There you have it, let’s take a look at it again on 12/31/12 to see how I did. Until then, I’ll be plowing these fields as I play the music game for another year.

Breathe In & Smile Out,
Chris