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.'"

Comments

Yay! more DRM'ed goodness. Yay!

[RLiegh]

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.

What they should do

[mfh]

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.

Re:What they should do

[chimpo13]

Ah yes, the mp3 formula of collecting money for you, that they won't send out. And occasionally changing the amount owed without explanation.

Then when enough people bitch about it, start charging money for an email response. Say, the emails I have where they wanted more of my money to answer why they haven't paid me yet. I didn't pay the money so I never got an answer. But I sure am glad I helped mp3 make money.

Re:What they should do

[GeorgeH]

You can figure out who is and isn't owned by an RIAA member using the RIAA Radar

Re:What they should do

[Simonetta]

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!

Par for the course

[MunchMunch]

eBay has already shown that they don't really care about preserving consumer's physical rights to resell in the digital world.

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.

Looks like it's time to dump eBay stock.

[payote]

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?

Good for independent artists

[unboring]

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.

This is Crap

[teamhasnoi]

First of all - if it is a digital download, shouldn't it be a Dutch Auction (with infinite 'items'). 2nd - Why is there 6+ days to go? A download sale depends on impulse, not the best deal. I can go to iTunes and preview, buy, and listen in the space of a couple of minutes for the same price as this one 6+days from now.

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.