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AT&T Deal With eMusic Excludes iPhones
ubermiester writes "ArsTechnica reports that AT&T has inked a deal with eMusic, a direct competitor to Apple's iTunes music store. eMusic specializes in independent artists and offers DRM-free content for direct download. For a monthly fee (the number of tracks one can download per month depends on the package) the site's catalog will be available to AT&T customers using Samsung and Nokia handsets, but not the iPhone."
I know you can import music to your iTunes list, and I know that you can transfer music from iTunes to an iPod...however...
Have you verified that you can transfer music which was imported (not purchased) from iTunes to an iPhone? I know that it seems a reasonable thing to expect, however, from the other weird limitations I have read about the iPhone, I am concerned that specific checks may have been written into the software to prevent this.
Have you actually done it yourself? Or do you know someone who has?
Songs bought form iTMS can be played on 5 computers and an unlimited number of iPhones and iPods.
But you have to ask for permission first. Some of us don't like having to ask permission to use something we own.
iTMS+ songs are DRM free (and at $1.29, cheaper than eMusic).
This new phone service costs more than itunes, yes. But regular emusic plans run about $0.30/song.
5 * $0.99 is not $8.00
True, they should price their phone service more in line with their internet service.
eMusic's catalog is not identical to iTMS (eMusic is smaller/indie music).
True enough, emusic's catalog is much better.
The only real downside I see to emusic is that they're still using MP3s. AAC is pretty sweet.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Once you download a song from emusic.com, you can download it again over and over! My experience was that even though I cancelled service for a year (had gotten all the music I wanted at the time) when I re-joined I could download every song I had ever bought from them. I dunno if this is policy or they liked me or what.
I guess I'm an eMusic fan-boy...I just love the small/indie/obscure tracks and the pure MP3 files.
Blar.
I'm no expert in partnerships and marketing but there's something about the AT&T/iPhone deal that's a little strange.
Apple is advertising like crazy for the iPhone but it's almost as if AT&T is forbidden from advertising using this relationship. Has this struck anyone else as strange or am I having too much coffee?
Look for music with the Creative Commons seal of approval. There are Creative Commons search engines, in which you can specify whether you want music you can use commercially, or whether you can create derivative works.
There is also the Common Content Catalog, which has a Music Section.
If you like piano, there is my humble offerring, in a variety of audio formats as well as sheet music. I chose to place my music under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 license, not just to "eat my own dog food", but because I feel that doing so helps me to advance my music aspirations:
I am weary of my twenty-year career as a software engineer. I need a change. That's why I'm taking piano lessons with the aim of passing the music school entrance audition someday. I'm going to major in musical composition; I want to learn to compose symphonies.
And the lot of my compositions are going to be CC-SA licensed.
I have already found that doing this encourages more people to get to know my music. Now, I know I'm not a pop artist - in fact most people don't like my music, but many do. By giving away my music I'm building a base of fans who will buy tickets to my live concerts some day.
This last weekend I spent four hours in downtown Santa Cruz, California, walking up and down Pacific Avenue passing out handbills that advertise my downloads. On the back is the Creative Commons logo and an encouragement for the recipient to share my music over the Internet and to burn CDs for their friends. I think I gave out over a hundred handbills, and left stacks of them on the counters in two record stores and a musical instrument store.
It's funny, the reactions I get from some people. Many believe that this is too good to be true, that there is some kind of catch, or that I'm trying to sell them something, or indoctrinate them into some kind of cult.
Well, sort of: the Cult of Copyleft.
I made a couple of new friends as I did this, one of them a "Downtown Host" and the other a street musician who plays the guitar.
I also burn CDs of my music to give away. I have a CD label printer that's just a regular inkjet printer with a feed mechanism for CDs. In this way I can make CDs a few at a time, and inexpensively, yet that look professional.
I try to always carry some in my backpack to give to new friends. I also give them to any street musicians that I come across, as a way of introducing myself to the local music community.
I'll give you a CD too - autographed even - if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area or in Santa Cruz County. Just email me at michael@geometricvisions.com and meet me somewhere for coffee or a beer, and I'll bring your CD with me.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
No, a cartel implies collusion. I am not trying to suggest that Apple and eMusic work together in the sense of collusion, but in terms of a user's experience.
If I usnderstand their business practices correctly, eMusic unilaterally chose not to get themselves into a battle against iTunes, where all others (Napster, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc) failed to become profitable.
Legal on-line music distribution is a difficult business to get into. eMusic found a decent way - one which permits the user to keep their relationship with iTunes/iPod, but allows the users to shop at eMusic too. Most other services force you to abandon iTunes, but don't provide enough reason for most users to leave iTunes.
What's dishonest about that?
Also which other company can you buy the last year's computer at last year's prices today?What's dishonest about that? Did they advertise false prices?
... and then they built the supercollider.