“Sony Corp. entered the bourgeoning digital music market Tuesday, launching an online music download service that the electronics and media conglomerate is banking will also generate sales for its line of portable audio players,” Alex Veiga reports for The Associated Press. “The service, dubbed Sony Connect, offers more than 500,000 tracks from artists on major and independent labels. Like Napster 2.0 and the iTunes Music Store from Apple Computer Inc., Sony Connect sells individual tracks starting at 99 cents and full album downloads beginning at $9.99.”
“Sony’s entry into the online music market comes more than a year since the launch of iTunes and months behind about a dozen other pay music sites and subscription services. Like Apple, which used its online music sales as way to drive sales of its iPod digital players, Sony hopes to turn a profit for its own array of audio players,” Veiga reports. “But doing so will depend largely on whether Sony can draw music fans who have not already invested in iPods or other music players – which cannot play song files in Sony’s ATRAC3 format – to buy its own brand of audio devices.”
“‘They’re behind the curve already and they have to play catch-up on two fronts, on selling their audio players and getting people to use their music service,’ said Michael Goodman, senior analyst with the Yankee Group in Boston. ‘There’s roughly three to four million people that have already placed that bet,'” Veiga reports. “Users of Sony Connect need to download its SonicStage interface and player to play the songs. Araki said the software can convert MP3 files to the higher-quality ATRAC3 format. The program also enables users to burn audio CDs that can play on any CD player. Sony Connect adopts the same copy restrictions that most other services do, allowing songs to be transferred to up to three PCs and transfers to compatible portable audio devices. Up to 10 audio CDs can be burned with the same track listing.”
Full article here.
too little too late
I like how it says it will convert mp3 to the higher quality sony format. How do you make an mp3 better? the computer will random add new instruments to the song?
Good thing Apple has a store in Japan. Atrac 3 is a horrible codec and I hated the sonicstage software that came with my last PC it was deleted after about 3 weeks.
I really wonder what the point is.
The point is either hubris or ignorance.
I find it funny the publishers still think Napster 2.0 is behind iTunes. Truth is Napster isn’t selling as many songs as Wal-Mart. Funny thing Sony will not even make a bump in the market.
Betamax
MiniDisc
Memory Stick
ATRAC3
What a stellar track record of bullshit proprietary formats that inevitably fall by the wayside. So what’s new? It’s Sony!
[I]allowing songs to be transferred to up to three PCs and transfers to compatible portable audio devices. Up to 10 audio CDs can be burned with the same track listing.[/I]
How long will it be before they copy Apple and switch to 7 CDs and 5 computers? Pathetic.
Stick to the cameras and TV’s Sony, your way out your league with Apple.
These guys are like lemmings. Just mindlessly following the guy in front of him over the cliff. I guess these big companies are now finding out that stealing Apple’s lead is proving much more difficult than they had anticipated. I guess M$ will be the next one to follow. (LMAO) I agree with JadisOne, “What’s the Point?”
Uhmm Sony, oh nice music catalog. What? cannot work with my iPod? Nahh, forget then. Totally irrelevant.
The bloody site makes pathetic excuses for not allowing anything but damned Win 98SE or above…. absolutely sh!thouse. I couldn’t even give them my money (if I wanted to, which I don’t, now).
But sony can knock out sub $99 players for its songs, which is where most of the market is – Apple has won the niche, the rest of the field is very much still up for grabs. Sony’s move is to be welcomed, the more competition the better for the consumer.
Thank you Average Mac Zealot.
Check this out.
Sony’s music-on-the-move crown was taken by Apple’s iPod, and can only leverage the Hi-MD (MiniDisc) format for the present!
—
http://homepage.mac.com/johnhood
Does anyone make a player that can play these songs, apart from Sony? Not as far as I know.
Sony already license the ATRAC codec for other Mini-Disc manufacturers, but will they license the DRM? If Toshiba, Awia, Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, JVC start making players that can play these then Apple are going to face very stiff competition.
To Atomic Bomb:
you missed one:
D.A.T.
JadisOne’s linked story is a hoot: –
[I]Music labels are dragging their feet in licensing their songs to Apple Computer because they fear its long-promised European music download site will dominate the online business, industry insiders say.[/I]
The logic is stunning: we’d rather lose sales to P2P and issue lawsuits than co-operate with the world’s leading integrated music solution for consumers.
[I]The five main record labels are understood to be scared that Apple, which makes the iPod digital music player, will become as successful in Europe as it has in the US, where it has 70 per cent of the legal download business. That could let it dictate which stars or records succeed or fail by deciding which to promote on its site.[/I]
Yes, because Steve J secretly harbours a desire to be an A&R man as opposed to getting as much musical diversity as possible in order to sell iPods. It all makes perfect sense when you’re doing that much Colombian marching powder.
Truly nuts!
As for Sony:
[I]We’re sorry.
We know you are interested in using the Connect music store. Unfortunately SonicStage only works on Windows 98SE and above.
We have no immediate plans to support other operating systems at this time. However, we believe this is an important user base and we hope to support it in the future.
Thank you for your interest.[/I]
Why are you all so down on this? All Sony are doing is providing iTMS-like services for their own Mini-Disc customers. Most customers are already preferring iPod to MD anyway. This isn’t likely to change.
I agree with Dave H – this is good for Apple. First, it will offer a second integrated music system – store/software/player and second it will increase the awareness of the overall market.
At this early stage of the market I think Apple will continue to increase sales and maintain most of its marketshare. The others like Wal-Mart and even Sony will do OK and even show increased sales every quarter. I don’t expect everyone out their to use iTMS. However, we will see a couple more stores fall this year – maybe even Napster 2.0 and the various offerings from Real.
I think they’re really going to have a hard time of this. I’d be willing to bet the ATRAC goes out the window within 6 months.
“I like how it says it will convert mp3 to the higher quality sony format. How do you make an mp3 better? the computer will random add new instruments to the song? “ – Davidwes
Nice catch. Yet another clueless journalist poisoned the minds.
After reading about the debates with respect to AAC/Fairplay and the pros/cons to licensing Fairplay to other on-line music store vendors, I had a thought with respect to Apple’s motives.
I don’t believe that Apple is highly concerned in the near term about competition for on-line music sales as long as the music gets played on iPods. As long as Apple retains control over AAC/Fairplay playback on mobile players they are making money, possibly more if AAC/Fairplay were licensed. What if Apple’s real concern is the fact that their whole on-line music approach is largely based upon the major RIAA companies, including Sony Music? If the format become standardized and the mobile players become a price-driven commodity, then Apple has limited value-added and no leverage with respect to pricing and rules. In that environment each of the RIAA “bigs” can split off with their own distribution channel to maximize profit while undercutting the third-party distribution channels. Unless Apple ends up owning or controlling a significant share of the music intellectual property, their long-term future in on-line music is uncertain. Certainly the AAC/Fairplay approach will only work for so long. Eventually some other format, either proprietary or open source, will gain a significant piece of the market.
Red Wings,
You’re right on with your comments about SonicStage. My daughter’s computer had this installed when new (I hadn’t switched to the Mac platform yet) — once iTunes for Windows became available I installed this on her computer. It works flawlessly and according to my 12, 14, and 16-year-olds, is MUCH easier to use than SonicStage (of course, I knew this already!). The next computer anyone of them purchases will be a Mac (they came to that conclusion by themselves!) — hopefully more of the Windows world can see the Mac and OS X in action; more would switch to the Mac platform (of course, many have said this on this forum already — Apple should advertise the advantages of OS X in addition to the iPod/iTMS offerings).