Two years ago, BlackBerry (then 'RIM') launched BBM Music. Today, the company is pulling the plug on the music service. So soon? What went wrong? What happened? It's not that BBM Music was a bad idea or badly executed. It's that BlackBerry was simply too late.

By the time BBM Music rolled out, BlackBerry had already lost a large chunk of its client base. So, the BBM Music file sharing idea (the more friends users shared with, the more free music was available) was useless. As with most things BlackBerry, the company was just two steps behind its competition.

Too Little Too Late

BBM Music launched in August of 2011. By that time, many of BlackBerry's messaging service users were looking for other phones. Most of the users who switched devices were of the younger crowd too, and that definitely made a difference. Older BlackBerry users weren't the ones who were bound to share music with friends. Once BlackBerry's younger crowd dissipated, the music platform was killed.

BlackBerry's devices simply weren't cutting it. Sure, the company now has some great new phones that are worth your time (really, they are), but it's just too late. Prior BlackBerry fans are simply not interested in the devices that the company is putting out. BlackBerry is going to need a heck of a lot more than rebranding in order to entice the general public once again.

A Sinking BlackBerry Ship

A short while ago, I wrote an {{http://blackberry-bad-numbers.articles.r-tt.com/|article}} about BlackBerry's former co-CEO stepping, Mike Lazaridis, down completely from his board duties. It's never a good thing when original founders of a company step down and sell all stock. Now, the company has pulled BBM Music. BlackBerry sent a note out to users today that recommends deleting the app as soon as the service is officially dead.

BBM Music's doom date is June 2nd, so be prepared for a shutdown if you currently use the service. To make the impact a bit less, BlackBerry is offering current BBM Music users a 30-day free trial of the service Rdio. BlackBerry recommends that users make the switch to Rdio in lieu of BBM Music.

Is BlackBerry Finished?

If you currently have a BlackBerry phone (or just bought one of the company's newest devices), should you be worried? Is this the complete end of BlackBerry? The company still has to launch its QWERTY phone, which could bring some more users back to the BlackBerry table. I'm also crossing my fingers that BlackBerry will be able to attract new users with some kind of majorly impressive campaign.

Then again, BlackBerry users have been let down and disappointed by this company so many times, it's likely that most users won't give the Waterloo company another shot. As BlackBerry updates roll in, I'll let you know what's happening. Right now, the best thing that you can do (if you love BlackBerry's new devices) is to spread that word about the new phones. Hopefully, some user-based marketing will help the company stay afloat.