“Microsoft is expected to unveil copy-protection software this summer that will for the first time give portable digital music players access to tunes rented via all-you-can-eat subscription services–a development that some industry executives believe will shake up the online music business,” John Borland reports for CNET News. “This summer may see the beginnings of a shake-up in the online-music industry–sources say new Microsoft copy-protection technology will finally arrive, bringing the all-you-can-eat subscription model to portable players.”
Borland reports, “Bottom line: If fans of iPod-like devices can be convinced to drop the idea of owning song files, they could shift to paying a subscription fee for ongoing access to hundreds of thousands of tunes–something that would cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars under the current dollar-per-download paradigm.”
Borland reports, “Sources say the technology–code-named Janus and originally expected more than a year ago–was recently released in a test version to developers and that a final release is now expected as soon as July. Janus would add a hacker-resistant clock to portable music players for files encoded in Microsoft’s proprietary Windows Media Audio format. That in turn would help let subscription services such as Napster put rented tracks on portable devices–something that’s not currently allowed. Fans of portable players could then pay as little as $10 a month for ongoing access to hundreds of thousands of songs, instead of buying song downloads one at a time for about a dollar apiece.” Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Awww, forget it – read the rest yourself if you want. Using “Microsoft” and “hacker-resistant” in the same sentence killed all credibility for us. But, thanks for the laughs, John. Some people just don’t get it. We like to own, not rent. Music, that is. But, have fun wasting millions trying to go against human nature. The government is also very good at this, but we digress. MS should’ve named it “Failure” instead of “Janus” because that’s what it’ll be in the end. (And, please, CNET, the ‘iPod Killer’ phrase is old and tired already, you can give it up and stop recycling it into every headline to do with digitial music.)
This is getting like the Death Knell Counter. How many iPod killers have there been now?
If they could come up with a portable device that wirelessly accesses the subscription database so you could update your rented songs on the go, that may be an iPod killer. But until then, the first iPod killer will come from Apple. Who knows what Steve is working on?
Dude
this has to got to be the dumbest idea on earth.
Dave H: I couldn’t agree with you more! We really ought to have an iPod death knell counter somewhere, and what better place than right here at MDN!
Come on guys, the brainless rah-rahing around here makes me sick. This might be the twin of Paul Thurrot’s SuperSite. Learn to think critically once in a while.
While such a system probably will be hackable, look at this from a marketing angle – right now the big advantage for Apple (besides the iPod itself) is that you can then carry all of these songs with you. What happens when Roxio et al come out and say you can do the same with theirs, but with thousands of songs a month for $10?
Most of my friends refuse to purchase music online because they want to own the physical CD – the liner notes and such.
Until they have a player that will hold these ‘hundreds of thousands of songs’ it just won’t fly. I can’t see myself paying $120/yr to rent songs. However, I can see myself paying $120/yr for satallite radio.
At least with those Rent to own furniture & appliance places you eventually own that $400 refrigerator – granted, you paid $1,500.
Services such as Napster will pay M$ millions for this new software as will the manufacturers of the players. Rob Glaser will then beg Apple to permit Janus subscription on the iPod so he can rent more music. The only one to gain from this will be M$ which may or may not recoup their development costs.
Dude, where’s my music?????? I asked the support rep. Well sir, she replied (using the accent she learned watching Sex in the City in her US culture, technical training class), your check was delayed by last weeks snow storm so your account has been disabled. I will be glad to reinstate your ability to play OUR music after you have paid the 50 dollar reinstatement fee and you are paid up for this month. But, but, but I stammered, anxiety building as I realized that my teenage daughter will never believe that I didn’t do it on purpose to ruin her party which starts in a hour. I wondered if 35 preteen girls would understand DRM and licensing as I proceeded to plead for some way to bypass the 3 day waiting period before my “deliquent” account would be reactivated.
I would think that with that idea….you are not allowed to use the music to add into your iMovie home made movies. The person watching the movie may have to be a subscriber, other wise it will be….uh….silent during that time the song is “supposed” to play.
Ewwww!
“access to hundreds of thousands of tunes–something that would cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars under the current dollar-per-download paradigm.”
Who has the time to listen to hundreds of thousands of tunes. I don’t know about you, but I usually buy a few albums, listen to them until I know almost every word…and then move on.
This is very flawed…no surprise though.
Janus? Should be Anus. Easier to remember and closer proximity to the eventual destintation of the service.
If this is the best they can come up with they might as well quit trying. What a retarded idea. I don’t want hundreds of thousands of songs and I certainly don’t want to rent my music. I just want my preferred tunes easily available. Apple got it right.
Steve, let’s bury everyone early by giving us XM on our iPods!! That’s what we really need! Satellite on a portable music player!! That can’t be beat!
If this is a poll, then I, too, prefer to pay for the songs I like once and for all and own them. It makes me feel good to own them. They are mine forever. Me and my Music. My Music and Me. I listen to songs still now that I listened too and liked 30 years ago and will probably still be listening to them 30 years hence. I guess I could rent them for the next 30 years but really I would rather just pay the buck now and have done with it.
Remember that Janus is the god of two faces.
I don’t understand how the artists get paid in the subscription model. Wouldn’t the artist that are popular have a disincentive to produce better work? Do the artists still get paid by download? Why would the best music artists want this? Isn’t subscription like communism, sharing all the revenue?
If anyone could screw up a subscription service it will be Microsoft. With the most retarted restrictions and security already in windows, I’m sure the music restrictions will be over the top and poorly executed.
Perhaps no one else appreciates the naming of this new service.
Janus – NOUN, Roman Mythology: The god of gates and doorways, depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions [and where we get the name of the month of January]
How Microsoft! A two-faced god of Gates.
Renting music seems a bad idea. Suppose I am reasonably well off and subscribe to such a service. After 10 years I would have spent shed loads of money for listening to music, but would own nothing. If I am then made redundent, or through ill health I am unable to work, my earning could collapse. I may not be able to afford my subscription and therefore lose access to all the music that I had been paying for over the last 10 years. If I bought the music, at least I could enjoy what I had during the bad times.
It never ceases to amaze me at what M$ thinks is innovation. Yeah right, I want to rent songs. If I want that I can listen to XM or Sirrus or for that matter, good ol’radio. Sure I don’t get to specify the order, but give the option of paying a subscription fee or not, most people will choose, not. No matter what the quality. Besides, since when was M$ about quality? IMHO, they’ve always been about the minimum quality that the market will bear.
Presumably you’d need to sync your Janus-enabled player with your computer at least once per month to verify that you are paid up? But what happens when you are traveling on that renewal date? Your credit card is automatically charged and your account is paid in full but how does the player know and not lock you out? How do you distinquish between songs you own vs. songs you rent? Can you mix the two in playlists or must you scroll through all 10,000 songs on your player to find the one you want to hear? Does anyone think M$/Napster is smart enough to answer these questions and make it easy for the consumer? Not me!
They should have named it Icarus (after the guy in Greek mythology that made wings of wax and flew too close to the sun, so he fell into the ocean and died).
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One weak point in Apple’s ITMS is the brevity of auditioning music (30 sec.). For some songs it works well, for others, it is impossible to get a feel what the song or instrumental piece is going to evolve into, in order to decide whether you want to purchase it or not.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could download a full song for 10 to 20 cents a crack that would disable after one play? Then you could decide whether it would be a song that belongs in your permanent library. If you decide to purchase it, the amount you payed from the listening fee could be dicounted from the purchasing fee? It would already be downloaded to your hard drive; it would just have to be unlocked as a purchase. Just an idea. I wrote Apple with this suggestion. I think it would improve the ITMS, making it more appealing to consumers.
Also, the weakness of ITMS missing liner notes is starting to be addressed by the with links to artist’s or record label websites on some selections. It would be nice to use the internet link to expand on bios of featured artists and all the musicians and producers behind the scenes.
Maybe third party websites will become available in the future to expand on this idea that Apple with ITMS could provide links to. Just another thought. There are so many liner notes on many physical CD purchases that are void of information.
OMG why does CNET enjoy giving Microsoft such frequent blowjobs? It’s like M$ is the pimp and CNET is the whore …
“Subscription based” music means you never, ever own the music — you pay for it again and again and again, forever — this is the wet dream of those who think digital distribution of content will rewrite the rules of ownership and property. It’s actually quite radical if you really think about it — kind of like Soviet Russia where nobody actually owned anything but the State. In this case the “State” will be the big media monopolies and Microsoft.
Right now i’m imagining my iPod under this system — it’s filled with gigabytes of my favorite music — but it’s like a little ticking digital time bomb waiting to erase all my music and force me back to the M$ trough — where they’ll probably be pushing the latest “music” from the stellar talents of Brittany Spears.
The only joy I see in this whole scenario is that it will waste lots of M$ resources and time — and give Apple further time to consolidate it’s lead in the fair distribution of digital content that consumers can actually own, use and enjoy.
I think load some songs on to my crappy 10 gig janus player for the day’s commute. OK, which songs should choose. Too many to choose from, I’ll just pick the same ones from yesterday, besides I haven’t finished listening to them anyway. Oh, wait I still have to download them again, they’ve probably expired . . . wouldn’t want a song to stop playing in the middle. Sh”t!! Now I have to choose again. This is such a pain in the a$$. Let’s see. About 40 minutes to pick the songs again, 40 minutes of download time, 40 minutes to transfer over the sh”tty usb. I’ll be about 2 hours late for work. Hope I don’t get fired. Ah, damn!! I need the money from the 2 hours of work to pay frick’n Napster.
This is all about recurring revenue, not about a users listening experience or hundreds of thousands of tunes at your fingertips. Micro$oft has nothing new to offer until longhorn and that is years away.