“With Apple Computer’s dominance over the digital music business growing, Microsoft is planning to bolster its own online song store with a new subscription service later this year, sources familiar with the plans say,” John Borland writes for ZDNet.
Brland reports, “sources say Microsoft is also considering a more direct attack on Apple, seeking rights from copyright holders to give subscribers a new, Microsoft-formatted version of any song they’ve purchased from the iTunes store so those songs can be played on devices other than an iPod.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We have to wonder how Yahoo, Napster and the other Microsoft WMA-based also-rans would welcome this move.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Report: Apple iTunes Music Store more popular than most peer-to-peer file sharing services – June 07, 2005
Apple’s iTunes Music Store passes 430 million downloads, market share increases to 82-percent in May – June 07, 2005
Does MS have a music store? They must be doing a lot business if I’ve never even heard of it.
There are probably legal issues w/ converting iTMS purchases to Windows Media files, but this would certainly stick it to Apple’s refusal to adhere to Fair Use standards.
On the other hand, if you convert it from AAC w/ Apple’s DRM (only plays on iPod) to Windows Media (won’t play on iPod), you’ve got another problem on your hands entirely.
I wonder how many people would use the ‘repurchasing’ feature. Seeing how there are probably more people who buy the player, then use the online store (rather than the other way around), I can’t see this being a widely used feature. If you’re using the iTMS, you most likely have an iPod. If you’re using Napster, et al, you have a Rio, Creative, or other player.
So Microsoft is prepared to spend $300 million + to buy all iPod users replacement tunes. Or are the music companies going to say it they destroy their DRMed AAC file then they can have a DRMed WMA file for free? What a precedent.
How is Microsoft going to replace the iPod-iTunes-iTMS user experience? That is the real $300 million question.
Subscription music services don’t work.
But how can Microsoft know, which of those protected AAC songs on my harddrive belong to me (unless Apple doesn’t tell them)?
Wanna hurt Microsoft? Kazaa a zillion of protected songs and pretend to use the new microsoft service… and MS has to pay billions to the recors companies!
Please note that the buyer of this service does not transcode the file format or DRM of the iTunes song (like ‘Harmony’) – it allows a RE-DOWNLOAD of the same song in Microsoft’s WMA format.
Also, this kind of feature makes no sense for a subscription service. One would simply subscribe to the service, and they would have unlimited access to MS’s catalog.
Then again, I doubt this feature will see the light of day – the Labels are greedy and would rather have the user re-pay for the same song.
Oh, man! More buttons to push to listen to WMV crap? I appreciate iTunes because I just have to click twice and the song downloads. Microsfot wants me to click on the song, click download, click convert, click upload to crap player. Man, my fingers are tired enough. Click my ass.
PC Apologist,
2 questions.
1) Don’t you think that the lack of Fair Use rights at the iTMS is the doing of the Labels? Cause it is.
2) Is your last name Thurott or Enderlie or Dvorak?
Uhm.. converting from AAC to a version of WMV?
Since it’s protected music.. you can’t really do that .. you can ‘hack’ but that’s not exactly legit, now is it??
hrmmm
If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?
The labels are also afraid of Apple. Apparently, they want at FairPlay and don’t like the fact that Apple wants to maintain the high quality of the entire experience. Depending on who you listen to, they like/dislike the subscription model, so what they may intend to do is rather nebulous.
Intel was joined at the hip to a Microsoft that didn’t want to follow it’s lead. In the same way, Microsoft is joined at the hip to hardware designers who’s idea of “better” is “exactly the same thing but with FM!” They can come out with whatever they want, if people think,”Cool, now I can get one of those music players that’s also a cel phone” the next step is to start looking at what this newly liberated music will play on (remember, these people have been using an iPod already).
It’ll be a quick trip back to the white headphones.
“It’s the only way to live in (MW) cars!”
RE: stantheman(the real one)
‘If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?’
lllllllllOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!!!
I work in the film industry and that statement is absolute Bullshit.
Hollywood is using the new Quicktime codec – I should know, we are working on the revenge of the SIth DVD and using that!
Sorry, but the adapter in my BMW only works with the iPod. Microsoft, go finish Longhorn and stay out of the digital music store arena.
stantheman:
<i>If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?<>
What? Where did you get that crap?
MW: Progress. How approprIate.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
stantheman:
<i>If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?<>
What? Where did you get that crap?
MW: Progress. How approprIate.
stantheman:
<i>If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?<>
What? Where did you get that crap?
MW: Progress. How approprIate.
stantheman:
<i>If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?<>
What? Where did you get that crap?
MW: Progress. How approprIate.
stantheman:
If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?
What? Where did you get that crap?
MW: Progress. How approprIate.
stantheman:
If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?
What? Where did you get that crap?
MW: Progress. How approprIate.
stantheman:
If Windows Media is so crappy, why is it soon to be the Hollywood standard?
What? Where did you get that crap?
MW: Progress. How approprIate.
Yay!!! LOL
I give up.
I think the word POD is more present in the language than web or
net—I bet its close. Everytime one person goes to sleep, yet another
pod person wakes up–and this is only the beginiing. I predict that
one day in the future this great company Apple will wean itself off
obsolete Intel chip and to develop a true 64 bit processor. Maybe even
move to Sony’s CELL. Wintel will not be able to cope
But why would customers want to convert their iTMS songs to another format that is incompatible with the iPod? Seeing as how the iPod has a 75% market share, this is just wishful thinking on M$’ part…