“Remember that $160 million Yahoo! spent to acquire Musicmatch last year? The deal was to bear fruit this week with the launch of a rival digital music store to Apple’s iTunes. But, according to a News.com story posted yesterday, the debut has been delayed. News.com cites sources that say the store could go live as soon as the end of the month,” Tim Beyers writes for The Motley Fool.
“The delay may be disappointing to some waiting for a viable challenger to iTunes. But let’s be honest, Fools. Even if Yahoo! were to delay six months and create a perfectly seamless listening experience, the so-called Yahoo! Music store is unlikely to do anything to slow iTunes’ march. And that’s because of the crushing popularity of the iPod,” Beyers writes.
“In the end, Yahoo! Music isn’t really any different from Microsoft’s MSN Music and Napster. Sure, it will take advantage of the highly prized real estate Yahoo! has carved out on the Web. And, yeah, that will give millions of potential users access to the new jukebox,” Beyers writes. “But people are buying iPods and using iTunes to manage their rhythmic collections. It’s really that simple. Indeed, when it comes to the music downloading biz, Yahoo!’s other digital properties are likely to be about as helpful as a landfill is to a homebuilder. In other words: Not at all.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Yahoo pushes back launch of iTunes and iPod rivals – March 08, 2005
Yahoo to buy MusicMatch – September 14, 2004
Yahoo cooking up iTunes-like online music service, iPod-like media player – February 04, 2004
Finally! Some logic from the ‘Fool’.
I think that Yahoo! will be able to become the number two service (boo-hoo Napster), but I still think that Apple will remain the number one service by a wide margin.
Oh, and Yahoo! won’t eat much of Apple’s pie (I love puns). They’ll be snatching most, if not all, from places like Napster, Real or Wal-Mart.
I’d include the MSN Music Store, but do they have anything more than that crumb of the pie that they found on the floor?
Magic Word: ‘power’
macnut222
I tend to agree with you.. but so far… this Yahoo thing is vaporware
Think I’ll just wait and see… if Yahoo can figure out how to put a DRM on a regular MP3… and still support Macintosh, they might have something there…
And, to carry this delusion one step further… IF they do decide to support Macintosh …. would their product be considered as one that “Plays for Sure” ??
Magic word=wall …. what Yahoo will probably be hitting when they try to take on the leader
Straight from their Launch.Yahoo Help section:
Please Note: LAUNCHcast is not currently compatible with Netscape Navigator for the PC or the Mac OS X operating system.
&
Not supported by LAUNCH:
Netscape Navigator 5.6 and 6.0 or higher for PC or Mac
Windows Media Player 9 Beta for PC
Mac OS X
I doubt they’re going to start supporting us now…
thanx for the heads up loki..
Somehow I just knew that to be the case
A moment of pause from Yahoo shows intelligence. Maybe a deal is in the works, maybe not. I’m sure they have no desire to be the latest roadkill victim of the iTunes/iPod steamroller.
James Taylor
Steamroller Blues
“Well, I’m a steamroller, baby
I’m bound to roll all over you
Yes, I’m a steamroller, baby
I’m bound to roll all over you
I’m gonna inject your soul with some sweet rock ‘n roll
And shoot you full of rhythm and blues
Well, I’m a cement mixer
A churning urn of burning funk
Yes, I’m a cement mixer for you, baby
A churning urn of burning funk
Well, I’m a demolition derby
A hefty hunk of steaming junk
Now, I’m a napalm bomb, baby
Just guaranteed to blow your mind
Yeah, I’m a napalm bomb for you, baby
Guaranteed to blow your mind
And if I can’t have your love for my own
Sweet child, won’t be nothing left behind.
It seems how lately, baby
Got a bad case steamroller blues”
Maybe someone can help me out on this one..
What the hell has Yahoo done with the Broadcast.com deal that made Mark Cuban a billionaire?
This wouldn’t be the first time Yahoo pissed away money…
Yahoo’s strategy is to be into absolutely everything hoping for a hit or two but expecting many more failures. A bit like, but more-so and worse than, Branson’s Virgin Empire.
Even if Yahoo do it perfectly they have an uphill struggle and its only one they can win if Apple itself messes up. Which, let’s face it, is looking less and less likely as improbably, Apple seems to be improving on about everything they choose to do.
And long may it continue as I can’t imagine life without Apple in the 21st century frankly. It was always good but now its time has surely arrived.
Apple has 70% of the market, both for MP3 players and for online music. Any new “competitor” who is not able to sell iPod-compatible tracks has to share the 30% with the numerous WMA-compatible music sites, making them all less viable.
Plus, in the harddrive mp3 player segment, Apple’s dominance is even greater. If you have 20 GB to fill, you are more likely to buy music than if you have a 256 MB USB stick.
The only real threat that I see to the iTMS comes from that Russian site, AllofMP3. They offer anything from mp3, AAC down to WMA, for kick-ass prices. And Russian prosecutors have determined that AllofMP3 does not violate Russian copyright law. This is because Russian copyright law only covers physical media.
see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4328269.stm
Bang go Russia’s chances of joining the WTO!
Oh, and note all PC users get free virus, and key-tracking software with each downloaded track!
Loudeye and mobile devices with a decent syncable jukebox is more of a threat to Apple than any of the others, but still not that credible.
It foolishly assumes mobile operators will be significant players in this space, which they won’t. Also, they do not have a jukebox software solution that is workable.
So, my money is on Apple, and Motorola somehow figuring out how to include operators into the mix. I hope the dumbass operators go under or get disrupted.
mac dood said:
” if Yahoo can figure out how to put a DRM on a regular MP3…”
It’s been done already:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/03/03/mp3_drm_to_demo/
Looks like the infamous “Burly Brawl” iTunes/iPod being NEO while it takes several Agent Smiths (all the OTHER portable music devices and OTHER online Music stores) to try to quash NEO. NEO (iTunes/iPod) is already doing the “hurricane” fending them off with one agent down (Virgin).
Actually several agents down….. (buymusic.com, and others that failed without publicity)
As for the Russian Site? Yeah, I’ll trust the Russians to have a legitimate and safe service to put my credit card information on…
This is the first time agree with Motley Fools article.
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