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eBay Running Trial for Downloadable Music
supersandra writes "Looks like eBay has been inspired by all those millions of iTunes song sales. They're running a six-month test offering downloadable music through authorized sellers, who would have to 'ensure copyright protection for the content and meet service-level agreements.' Also of note, 'music buyers won't be allowed to resell the files on eBay.'"
I find this more than a little hypocritical, since the entire concept of eBay is about reselling physical goods. In an entirely digital world, eBay's own policies would preclude it from selling anything.
We've been using a service that has supported this funstionality for some time. They've already processed several thousand auctions for digital goods. They just want us to include a copyright statement in our auction listing to not conflict with the eBay downloadable media policy.
It is pretty interesting to look at how a place like eBay, usually for one-off items, can work for goods with unlimited availability lke digital goods. I hope it works out.
I checked out the site (accessible at music.listings.ebay.com) and couldn't figure out what format the files come in. Anyone want to buy a song and find out?
If this is their best idea for how to grow the business, I'm worried. iTunes Music Store had a 'small profit' last quarter - but it really exists to sell iPods - what equivalent business model does eBay intend to use, or for that matter , what better model do they intend to use?
Never pet a burning dog.
I'm wondering if someone will be able to sell high quality rips of some of the rare and out of print material from some lesser known artists and independent labels. I have an addiction to some genres that were never popular in the world, and all but unheard of in my country. Obtaining some artists in nigh impossible, or decent quality since the cd runs were so small, and in some cases only a few vinyl were pressed.
It would be very cool if someone could get rights to resell some of that. I don't really care about the most of the pop stuff. But if only someone could put out the rare stuff. It would be great.
And completely off-topic, Ministry has released a decent (pretty damn good) followup to their New World Order CD from when Bush Sr. was in office, called Houses of the Mole. Heard it. def. worth checking out.
A year ago, we had to do a case study on eBay for a business class. I jumped all over it and told my team that we would suggest independent music sales, due to the fact that eBay already owns the transaction processing services necessary for small payments. Then we could create stores where the bands could sell their swag, etc... avoiding a duplicate of iTunes and other downloadable music services.
Well, at least we got a good grade for the project.
-Joe
I agree. eBay is an auction service. If they are going to sell music then they should do it at the price that people want to pay, instead of a fixed fantasy price from the RIAA companies.
I buy and sell equipment and 'things' on eBay. I'm toying with the idea of offering some of the specialized wire-wound specialized electronic prototypes that I have been able to get working.
When I want music that I haven't heard before, I check audio CDs out from the library. When I want a specific song, I use KazaaLite to get it from one of millions of people who are sharing billions of files. I don't have any need for music download services that charge large amounts of money for audio data in restricted and semi-encrypted formats. The only way that the music sellers can compete with Kazaa is to be better than Kazaa. Nothing else is going to work.
Actually eBay should sell movie tickets by auction. Say the $250 million blockbuster ShitheadMan II will be released this friday. The local theatre can auction tickets for the first show that might go up to $30-$40 a seat. However a Wednesday evening showing of Return of Bozo III that was released a month ago might only bring an auction price of $1.35. Still is better than an projecting a film to an empty seat.
Finding and buying specialized things on EBay seems to be just an American phenomenon. I can't see something like this in Germany, where it's still illegal to have stores open on Sunday or for individual stores to have sales on overstocked items. It seems that law was passed in the late 1930's because storeowners of a certain group where liquidating their merchandise at reduced prices in order to leave the country before being liquidated themselves. This was considered an affront to good German shopkeepers who never had sales so laws were passed making it illegal to reduce the price of an item unless all the local shopkeepers reduced the price of the item at the same time. After the war, the laws remained to promote 'order' and remain in effect to this day.
Can you imagine eBay taking off in such an environment? I often feel sorry for the Germans (I'm not Jewish, otherwise I wouldn't), they think that they're so free, and yet they have all these insane laws that prove otherwise. Generally the USA is the best place to buy things because they have the widest selections, the best prices, and honest merchants who are seriously interested in making it easy for to actually buy what you want. And Oregon is the best place to buy stuff in the USA because there is no sales tax. No VAT, No GST/PST, no nothing. You buy something that costs $99.95, give the clerk a hundred dollars, and get back a 5 cent coin with polite 'Thank You, Have A Nice Day'. Try doing that anywhere else in the civilized world!
That would be a concept..
.. YOu pay to have the right to listen to 10 songs, you choose what you want. When you want new songs, you 'recycle' your tokens..
Since you cant buy and sell content.. Sell 'listening tokens'
---- Booth was a patriot ----
One thing I have noticed on eBay, however, is that people DO resell physical CDs. So my question is how does the "fair use" of copyright come into play here. Assumming Joe Seller has copied the CD, under fair use, can he keep his copy when he sells the original?
What If someone steals my physical CD but I still have my high-quality MP3 on my player? Did my right to the MP3 get stolen too?
etc. Discuss amongst yourselves.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the 'auction' concept for small purchases. My time is worth way more than the few cents difference and if the provider could be different from song to song, that really makes me run the other way screeming.
The savings would be so miniscule that they out weigh having to manage (1) unexpected pricing, (2) compare/work with multiple vendors.
For a large purchase or one of a kind item, sure eBay is the eWay, but for this, I give it the thumbd down.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Why do people just use itunes? Competition is a good thing, and I'm sure the crowd here will agree that 1) monopoly = evil, and 2) alternatives = good. I mean, why not just drive ford? Why not just play sony? Why not just eat bananas?
The more companies start offering digital media for sale, the better off we'll all be. They might not have it quite right just yet, but they seem to be getting enough encouragement from the market to keep trying which is a very good sign. Sooner or later one of these retailers will give us exactly what we want and it'll all be thanks to these early efforts.