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Microsoft, OD2 Start European Music Service
useosx writes "Reuters is reporting that 'Microsoft Corp. announced on Thursday a pact with Europe's biggest digital music outfit, OD2, to form the continent's first major a la carte online download service. ...
The move marks the first time European consumers can purchase song downloads off the Internet for under one euro ($1.13), and without requiring a monthly subscription, bringing the fee in line with the popular Apple Computer iTunes service, which is not yet available in Europe.'" Other stories: the Guardian, BBC.
And what, pray tell, would be "unreasonable"?
I think they'll make buckets of money; it requires Windows Media Player 9 which has a much larger user base than that of the Mac and the Apple player which is getting half a million song downloads a week.
Trolling is a art,
The one article only states:
'Fans can copy tracks, burn them to CDs and transfer them to other devices as much as they want "within reason"'
That leaves a lot of wiggle room, and truthfully, given Microsoft's recent warming to DRM in general, I wouldn't be surprised if the service leaves customers with only partially usable music.
I always save my last mod point to mod up a good troll. You people are too serious.
...oh whoops, the DRM is only 100 times more restrictive and whoops, the WMA quality is worse then AAC. Kind of reminds me of the difference between OS X and Windows XP.
Let's not kid ourselves: for all of Microsoft's talk of "innovation", the one thing they're really good at is seeing another idea that works, making their own version of it, then making it "good enough" that their desktop monopoly can make money off of it.
So, let's take a look at their new music service:
Media Type: Windows Media Audio 9.
The Good: No big surprise, and depending on who you ask, it sounds better than MP3's at the same format. Anybody with either a new computer or someone who upgrades to Windows Media Player 9 should have it work just fine.
The Bad: Nobody but a Windows user can use it. But since the other big competitor Apple only lets it work with Macs, that means that a 4% user base is now hitting against a 90% user base - so it's all balanced in the end, I guess. Apple should have their service in Windows at the end of this year, and Windows Media Player 9 should be available "someday" for OS X, so then we can compare apples to apples (no pun intended).
Depending on who you ask, Apple's use of AAC isn't really a full open standard, since they've got the security hooks inside - but it's a far more open standard than WMA (Windows Media Audio). Any chance we'll see either one on Linux? Anyone? Guys?
The License:
The Good: No subscription fee, which I think is the #1 draw of the new music formats. Most of the songs are around 0.99 euros, which comes out to be $1.15 or so per track. And you can copy some to your portable players or burn CD tracks with them.
The Bad: So far, this is where Apple's service is kicking the other two's services right in the Jimmy. Apple's system is cut and dried: Every song, up to 3 computers, unlimited iPods, unlimited CD burns.
With Buymusic.com and Microsoft's service - it depends on the song. Maybe you can put it in a portable, maybe not. Maybe you can burn it, maybe not. So that means before you buy each song you'll have to either say "Well, I will only play these songs on this computer forever!", or say "Hm - let's see what the license is before I make my Ultimate Dance Track for the Anime Pool Party this Saturday.".
It's something the "average joe" won't care about - until one day, they go to do something, and don't understand why Song A can be copied/burned, but Song B can not. Will Apple use this in their marketing? Who knows - and odds are, people won't think enough to care.
The Selection:
The Good: 200,000 songs to start off with.
The Bad: No clue - I haven't seen the line up.
Final score:
Undecided. Microsoft's new music service looks more like BuyMusic.com's, only it's in Europe. Same media format, same licensing structure - only it's going to be inside the Windows Media Player and not just a web page for downloading.
Odds are, Apple's service will still be better with the "one license for every track" rule. But as history has shown, Micorosoft does not necessarily have to be "better" than the competition - usually "good enough" will do to make them money.
Either way, if Apple wants to get the bucks before competitor #1 eats the market, it needs to get its ass moving on its Windows service and those deals in Europe.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
All they want is:
The Server OS market
The Database market
The Office market
The Home PC market
The Handheld market
The Mobile market
The Game market
The TV market
The Instant messaging market
The E-mail market
And the hearts of men are easily corrupted.
------- Look mum! I have posted another Slashdot comment! --------
Anyone still wondering why MS is under investigation in Europe for using Media Player to extend their monopoly now has their answer. The recording cartel and the OS monopolists have got together to tie up the market for downloadable singles. The result overpriced tracks, low quality, DRM and no choice.