I’ve been hearing whispered predictions of ‘revolution’ from several corners of the music industry recently, and am currently taking bets on which company will be next in line to come up with the goods.  It’s not unusual to hear people talking in this way, and is something that every new business tries to achieve. However, there are some really promising contenders currently making waves.

Spotify (security scares aside) has just registered its one-millionth customer. I wonder if recent interest in the Swedish start up (including some killer coverage courtesy of Channel 4 on Saturday) will push the company from darling of the social media space to mainstream commercialisation. Along with Lastfm - which has received a massive step up in terms of profile because of the recent iPhone app ads - it‘s a definite front runner to leave its mark.

Daniel Ek’s interview with Kirshnan Guru-Murthy (as mentioned above) certainly pays due diligence to this theory, as Ek was introduced as someone you ‘may not have heard of, but is set to change the face of the music industry’. It was something very similar to that anyway, I can’t tell you exactly because Channel 4 start their clip at the Q&A instead of the introduction.

I actually had my doubts about Spotify when I first tried it, worried that they’d fall into endless cycles of beta that some companies rely on (I’m looking at you Google). I’m glad to have been proved wrong. Spotify is still building its portfolio, and one of the most common complaints is that large chunks of certain back catalogues are missing. This would appear to be easily rectifiable, but time will tell.

I was interested in Bopaboo back in December, as well. Not in the same ‘that’s a great business idea’ sense, but as a site attempting to try something new. In this particular case, I’m not convinced it’s a winner. In fact, it’s a classic ‘let’s take the premise of an already successful business and tailor it for a different product’ moment, but I’m all for applauding those who have a go.

Bopaboo claims to be an Ebay style marketplace, which allows users to operate mini download stores. The site was met with criticism from most of the tech press when it soft launched last year, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an interesting experiment. However for me, the fact that the site expects you to delete any MP3 after you've uploaded it to sell on, is simply expecting too much.

Also, what’s to stop me from uploading already illegal copies of an MP3? I’m then making money from something I haven’t even bought in the first place.

It’s not entirely clear how much of the 20% cut that Bopaboo takes from the sale of each MP3 goes to the label, but I wonder if it could have learnt from Ticketmaster’s approach to its exchange. All tickets are linked to Ticketmaster’s ticketing systems, and so every purchase is guaranteed to be 100% legitimate. Users can swap tickets for events where the organisers and artists have authorised the resale of tickets. Surely Bopaboo could have approached the labels prior to launch, saving themselves many an awkward moment by already having the copyright owners on side.

Then there’s the yet to be launched Guvera. Now, with a name that links so directly to Che himself, you know there’s bound to be some big statements involved. When arriving at the homepage, you sit through a very bold minute-long animation before being told that Guvera is ‘the biggest change to media in history. Music, Film & TV for free. While everyone still gets paid’.

The pre-registration for beta promises 100% legality, top quality, no software, P2P, DRM or viruses. They appear to tackling ‘Guvera beta 2009’ head on, offering a limited (almost VIP) beta programme, with a personal profile tagged as ‘original guerilla’ and first access to stage 2 (free film, TV and games).

It’s all very exciting, but a lot of this is created by clever use of wording, superb design and some very cool messaging. The pre-registration form is fairly comprehensive, and actually depicts what type of free content you’ll be granted access to (if you’re one of the chosen ones). I can’t say more than that at this stage, but I’d like to see if it delivers, or just ends up as all mouth and no trousers. Full review to come.

The thing is, with the exception of Lastfm, none of these exciting music-based tech companies are profitable yet. Spotify hopes to do so by the end of the year, but Bopaboo is still only in private beta for the US 3 months after launch. Guvera hasn't even got that far yet, so it's impossible to tell how successful it will become. As a user, Spotify has changed the way I listen to music, but then, so did the introduction of online radio. And that’s not an entirely new idea at all, but just a different way of broadcasting.

Last year saw the first ever Music Ally/MidemNet New Business Showcase, which looked at innovative new technologies within the music space. As of yet, I haven’t seen anything come of the winner, let alone the other ‘revolutionary’ concepts. While I watch all of these new companies with interest, I wonder if the industry has become a little too focussed on keeping up with how consumers behave. And this means getting excited about something new just based on the fact that it’s ‘new’, regardless of whether a concept makes sense or not.