Posted 06/16/09 at 10:00:06 AM by Paul Lilly

Through a partnership with Universal, Virgin Media said it plans to launch an unlimited music download subscription service. The well timed announcement comes just one day before a British report hits the public eye detailing how the creative and telecom industries should go about bumping up digital sales to cope with lost revenue due to online piracy.

"We listened to our customers, our fans, and our artists and we think that this is an opportunity to bring music to a wider audience," said Lucian Grainge, Universal Music chairman and CEO.

According to Reuters, people familiar with the service said it would cost around $16 to $24 per month. Both sides are describing the service as a world first, which would allow Virgin Media broadband customers to both listen to streaming tracks and download however many tracks and albums they want.

Unlike other unlimited subscription services, the downloadable MP3s won't come with any DRM shackles, which means the tracks can be transferred to and played from any MP3-capable device.

"This is really high stakes, if this can't work then what will," commented Mark Mulligan, an analyst with Jupiter.

Read More

Comments 

12

TAGS 

drm, Software, Internet, mp3, music, download, service, Universal, Virgin, unlimited

Posted 05/21/09 at 05:30:46 PM by Andy Salisbury

Chances are good that if you’re a fan of streaming music online, you’ve heard of Pandora. And, apparently users of the service like it so much that they’ve actually been asking about ways to pay the company to guarantee its survival. At long last those (strange) questions have been answered, with the introduction of Pandora One.

Pandora One is a subscription-based model allowing users that shell out $36 a year access to some premium options. First off, premium users will no longer have to put up with ads of any kind (this includes the in-stream audio ads). Secondly, and most notably, they’ll gain access to a Pandora desktop app that includes high quality streaming audio (bumped up to 192 kbps), a personalized look, a mini player, and extended player time outs.

For many of us, the free-to-use service is just fine as is. The ads that are currently keeping it alive aren’t very invasive (even the audio ones), and with apps such as OpenPandora out there it’s admittedly a tough sell. But, for those looking to show their love for their favorite online streaming service, $36/year isn’t too bad a price.

Read More

Comments 

3

TAGS 

Software, streaming, music, Pandora, Radio, Pandora Radio

Posted 05/18/09 at 10:05:10 AM by Paul Lilly

Citing "legal issues," EMI nixed plans to release Danger Mouse's new CD, Dark Night of the Soul, a collaboration with rock group Sparklehorse that also features Iggy Pop and The Flaming Lips. But that doesn't mean fans of the mashup artist are completely out of luck, depending on how far they're willing to go. 'Just pirate the music,' is the message essentially being sent.

Since EMI refuses to release the project, Danger Mouse has decided to sell the album as a "100+ page book" of David Lynch photographs inspired by the music, and will toss in a blank CD-R.

'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will."

The idea, of course, is for fans to illegally download the music via P2P/torrent and fill the CD themselves, and though EMI hasn't said yet said anything, it can't be too happy about the move.

Read More

Comments 

19

TAGS 

music, legal, copyright, torrent, danger mouse

Posted 05/18/09 at 09:41:51 AM by Paul Lilly

Let the streaming music wars begin. Just last week Microsoft went on the offensive and attacked Apple's iTunes service over its pricing model compared to the Zune Pass unlimited subscription service, which serves up all-you-can-listen-to tunes plus 10 free tracks for $14.99/month. Looking to leapfrog ahead of them both, Napster, now a Best Buy commodity, is planning to relaunch its subscription music service with a $5 deal that includes 5 free tracks every month.

"There's no need to settle for 30-second clips to decide if you want to buy a song," said Chris Gorog, CEO of Napster. "For five bucks now you can have access to our entire music catalog and get five MP3s to add to your permanent collection."

The new pricing model, which goes into effect tonight, could put Napster in contention with more popular music services and put the one-time P2P pioneer back on top. Napster's catalog sits at over 7 million strong and includes more than 60 commercial-free radio stations, which seems like an obscene amount of content for the same price as a Subway footlong.

Anyone plan on giving Napster a second look? Hit the jump and sound off.

Read More

Comments 

8

TAGS 

Software, streaming, mp3, music, Napster

Posted 05/12/09 at 03:58:27 PM by Andy Salisbury

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has hit a point in his life where he’s decided to change some things – or at least, talk about it. In a recent interview with Nikkei Electronics Asia, Stringer made some pretty bold statements about Sony’s future and their past.

He claims that going forward, Sony will use more open standards. “If we had gone with open technology from the start, I think we probably would have beaten Apple” in music. A pretty lofty statement considering how insanely popular the iTunes music store is today. But, in its fledgling days, who knows? Anything is possible.

“We can no longer say that we’re right and our customers are wrong. We can’t build only what we want to build,” he continued. If you want to read the full interview, give it a look here.

So, what do you think? Will Sony continue their present ways, or are they going to change for the better (or worse)? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Read More

Comments 

11

TAGS 

apple, itunes, music, : Sony, Howard Stringer

Posted 05/12/09 at 01:32:37 PM by Paul Lilly

Oh snap, it's on like Donkey Kong, or at least like an intense level of Galaga. More specifically, Microsoft continues its advertising offensive against Apple with yet another commercial pointing out the cost of being hip, only this one targets iTunes and not MacBooks.

In the latest ad, financial planner (certified, of course) Wes Moss points out it would take $30,000 to fill the latest iPod using iTunes at a buck a pop.

"I don't know about you, but I don't have thirty grand laying around for music," Moss says.

His solution? A subscription service like Zune Pass, of course! "One costs a lot, and one costs a little," Moss adds, referring to the iPod with $30,000 worth of music and Zune Pass's unlimited subscription plan for $14.99/month. For those of you doing the math at home, $30,000 buys almost 167 years of Zune Pass. 

There are obvious flaws in Microsoft's latest pitch, but the goal here isn't necessarily to discredit Apple's iPod/iTunes combination as a viable music platform (too late for that) as much as it is to promote Zune Pass. The question is, will it work?

Hit the jump and sound off!

Read More

Comments 

16

TAGS 

microsoft, Software, apple, itunes, mp3, music, Zune, hardware, consumer electronics

Posted 05/05/09 at 05:03:20 PM by Andy Salisbury

And for good reason, too! Mr. Reznor has admittedly done a lot for the digital music landscape, and while he does support Apple, he’s got a rather large bone to pick with their app approval process (the very same process that approved the baby shaking game).

In a nutshell, Apple rejected an update to the official Nine Inch Nails iPhone app due to “objectionable content.” Oddly, said content isn’t actually a part of the app, instead it’s a song that the application can stream called “The Downward Spiral.” And, while the hypocrisy of this situation runs wild in my mind, it’s best described by Trent… after the break (there might be little eyes watching, so be warned of language).

Read More

Comments 

14

TAGS 

apple, music, iphone, NIN, consumer electronics, app, Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor

Posted 04/22/09 at 09:47:24 AM by Paul Lilly

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) would have you believe that illegally downloading music is crippling an artist's ability to make a living, and so the association, with music artists' best interest in mind of course,  has led the crusade against piracy with lawsuit after lawsuit. But is the RIAA only hurting the music industry's best customers?

According a new study by the BI Norwegian School of Management, those who download music illegally via P2P networks are also more likely to pay for digital downloads. The study pinged more than 1,900 internet users over the age of 15, and according to the study's researchers, those who pirate music also bought a staggering ten times as much legal music than those who steer clear of P2P.

"The most surprising is that the proportion of paid download is so high," said Audun Molde from the Norwegian School of Management.

Not surprisingly, record labels are taking the study with a grain of salt. EMI's Bjørn Rogstad believes there is no way to know for sure whether or not illegal downloads stimulate pay downloads, adding  "There is one thing that is not going away, and it is the consumption of music increases, while revenue declines. It can not be explained in any way other than that the illegal downloading is over the legal sale of music."

Read More

Comments 

10

TAGS 

music, piracy, copyright, study