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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 have 5 gigs of that .... ebay here i come!!!
Seriously, I would never pay for DRM-encrusted windows-only music files; and I don't get why it has taken off as much as it has.
If you want my money, either give me unemcumbered files; or (if you're an online station) give me a large selection of music that I can pick and choose what individual songs are being streamed to me. Launchcast has a great selection; but if there's a way to pick and choose what you want to hear (instead of "well, you like the ramones, have some greenday") I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is.
Here's what Ebay should do: take mp3.com's formula for indy music and tweak it; auction off download rates for each artist by the number of songs sold, and start with $0 per song, then start slowly charging more and more until the song reaches a cap of say $1.50 USD that goes directly to the artist. Calculate the popularity of the song by the number of purchases, and raise/lower the cost for the audience. This would be a really good model to make money. I would likely forget about selling RIAA titles because they all sound the same to me, per genre. Indy music is the way to go for me.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
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.
Another way of looking at this is that now if I'm a music seller, but want to also buy some music, I'll need to register for another accounts. This is sure to boost the number of registered site users (>100 million IIRC), and will keep the marketing drones happy!
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.
This would be a great way for independent musicians to sell their music directly to their fans, without giving a "slice of the pie" to the RIAA. At least now, they can be assured of getting a majority of the sale proceeds.
how about the same one that has worked for them all this time:
Charge for listing an item
Charge again if it sells
I like microcars
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
What I'm interested to see is if eBay will eventually allow for the sale of downloadable music that is recorded and released without the involvement of record companies. In other words, what if eBay opens the door to taking the record companies out of the loop between the artist and the listener.
In all likelyhood, the RIAA will crap golden twinkies and try to find some legal means to make ebay sorry they went down this road.
I'm guessing you work there. mp3.com owes my band about $60-80 for cds and songs played. Not a lot, but enough to be annoying.
My first email said, "you keep changing how much you owe us, and when will you pay us" and got a response that said "we'll answer in 7-10 business days". I replied to that email once a month. Then I'd get the same 7-10 email which I'd respond to the next month. That went on for a year or a bit longer. Then they started answering, "You need to upgrade your mp3 account to get an answer".
Weasels.
riding round the world on an old motorcycle
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.'
Well, since foolproof DRM is an impossibility...I take that to mean that they have no music for sale.
Also of note, 'music buyers won't be allowed to resell the files on eBay.'
...because they wouldn't be able to sell any in the first place under their DRM terms. QED. ;^)
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
3rd - "sellers chosen for the pilot have to ensure copyright protection for the content and meet service-level agreements." If I wrote it, it's got copyright protection. That's what copyright does - protects my work when I create it. Or are they talking about some DRM scheme? It's not clear.
4th- If DRM is required, how does it get put on? Will someone send me a Windows-Only exe to screw with my track? Do I have to send a wav somewhere? Again not clear.
Ebay. Stick with what you do. Leave the failing at a Digital Music Store to everyone else.
This will be an uphill battle. I-tunes is the dominant e-music source due to the interoperability with the Ipods. The Ipods truly are the "Sony Walkmans" of the 21st century -- their interface is great, and I dare any detractors to try it for a week first before disparaging it. The fact that the Ipods tie in so closely with I-tunes is the reason why I-tunes is successful -- not the other way around. Simply branding a music store "E-Bay" without hardware to back it up will fail miserably, unless their DRM was far more favorable than Apple's (i.e. can burn it unlimited times).
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 ----
Isn't this like what SCO does? Tries to sell something that is given away somewhere else?
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.
"Assuming Joe Seller has copied the CD, under fair use, can he keep his copy when he sells the original?"
No. Copyright law allows you to make copies *of recordings you own* for your own use. If you sell the original, then by definition, you don't own it any more, and therefore have no right to create or keep copies of it.
"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?"
No, again. You still "own" that CD, even if it's not still in your possession. That's what makes the copy the thief has "stolen". So, you still have a right to create and keep copies of the CD. Now, being able to prove that you have the right to that copy is going to be pretty hard if you don't have any evidence that you bought the CD.
-Mark
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The trash some people try to sell.....
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.
Of course, there is the chance you were trying to use some wit to mock the MD technology, in which case I am a fucktard, but my post is still a valid way to get streamed content onto your MD.
As far as I know, independant artists can sell their music through all the normal normal music services
Independent artists can't sell through the "normal normal music services" that dial-up people use, that is, Compact Disc sales through Wal-Mart and Best Buy brick and mortar store chains. The major labels pay to rent shelf space in those stores.
how would EBay give them a greater advantage?
Even within the realm of fully-paid-up perpetual rentals of digitally downloaded records (it's not really a sale without a significant right of resale), the eBay brand would bring name recognition.
Apparantly They Might Be Giants(the band) have decided to start selling their new CD on their website as pure unadulterated actual MP3s! None of that other crap that has tons of arbitrary usage rights. "You can burn this song to 3 CDs, transfer to up to 2 computers, and listen to it up to 14 times. This song will self-destruct in 5 days, sucker!" Is it a GOOD idea for them to be selling the actual MP3s. Obviously, they realize that a lot of people will emidiately put it on Kazaa. But on the other hand, by selling it on their website on their own, the $9.99 that you pay for the CD goes straight to their pocket, instead of countless middlemen.
Why bother, allofmp3.com already does sell ogg. And flac, and monkey's and...well, just about every common format, including wav(!?!). Lossless compression does cost double (2c per MB vs 1c/MB for mp3/aac/ogg...why, I have no idea).
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?