Rdio killed the Video stars?

So, today we get the "leaked" first cut edition of Rdio's screens on ReadWriteWeb:

We've been lucky enough to get our hands on leaked screenshots from one version of Rdio, the forthcoming music app from Skype, KaZaA and Joost creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Zennstrom and Friis were the original financiers behind peer-to-peer file sharing site KaZaA, but Rdio won't be following a free-for-all sharing model. Instead, Rdio will be a subscription music site similar to Spotify.

And, surprise surprise, it is being beta tested by a small and select coterie of alpha-users:

Currently being tested by a very small number of people, Rdio is an on-demand streaming service where users pay per month for unlimited music and connect to share playlists and music reviews. The company plans on creating an additional revenue stream via 99 cent song downloads and $10 album downloads.

Same old same old PR hype approach, but what I find really, really interesting is why these guys - who are very smart fellows - are going into music now. Its massively competitive, other players exist with assets across the value chain (Apple for example) and by all accounts there is very little money in the game in these days.

Its also not clear to me that recruiting an all-star cast from the VoIP world for the new startup is the right plan - that's what they essentially did for Joost, and it flopped, and in my view one key reason was because the people at Joost - though very competent - did not really come out of the "DNA" of the emerging WebTV world.

Yes, KazaA was bred in the music world, but that was early 'Noughties and its a very different game now. After a good shot with KazaA and a home run with Skype, the boyz can absorb a few also rans very easily, but if Rdio flops as well will it be one too far?

Ah, the Serial Innovator's Dilemma.....

Anyway, that's the downside risk. The upside is that the online music industry, like social networking, is still in very early days and is iterating massively - new service darlings seem to emerge every 2 years or so (anyone remember when Last.fm was No. 1?) so a new, well founded (and no doubt funded) entrant has as good a chance as any (and better than many)

And on past history they will no doubt attract lots of desperate (perish the thought it may be dumb) investor money, which may be the whole point after all