“With the MTV movie awards at the end of August in Miami, Yahoo is planning a huge kickoff campaign, including ‘guerilla street teams to help educate consumers on the benefits of Yahoo! Music Unlimited.’ More information from the Motley Fool (requires registration to access) states that ‘Subscription-downloaded tracks expire when your subscription expires. So to keep accessing your tracks, you need to pay the standard $0.99 a song and download it individually. And, after reading through much fine print, you realize that these songs are not compatable with the iPod because they are downloaded by Yahoo! in Windows Media Audio format,'” Wendy Boswell writes for About.com
“What? No iPod? I was just at the Apple store this weekend drooling over iPods and since the big birthday is coming up here soon, I’m dropping heavy hints. If Yahoo really intends to compete in the digital download market they’re going to have to include iPod-compatible offerings. However, since Yahoo is providing a huge variety of songs (over one million) at such a low monthly price, you can check them out relatively cheap and then decide later on if you want to purchase them. So that kind of makes up for the whole non-iPod stuff. Maybe. But I’m wondering what Yahoo marketing is thinking, exactly, since the main demographic they’re targeting at the MTV Music awards with the crack teams of roving guerilla evangelists are exactly the ones who are buying all the iPods,” Boswell writes.
Full article here.
Yeah, what the heck is Yahoo thinking with this “whole non-iPod stuff?” 
Luckily, Apple iPod users have the world’s number one online music store, Apple’s iTunes Music Store, ready and waiting with music, audio books, podcasts, and more.
Come to think of it, maybe the lack of iPod compatibility is the root of the problems all of these Windows Media-based online music stores are having?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Yahoo! to launch ‘agressive’ campaign for online music subscription service on MTV – August 18, 2005
BusinessWeek: Apple unlikely to launch music subscription service – August 15, 2005
Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Yahoo music, iPod, cellphones, ‘Halo Effect,’ viruses and more – May 23, 2005
Analyst: Yahoo’s music entry threatens Napster and RealNetworks more than Apple – May 12, 2005
Yahoo’s music play hurts Napster, RealNetworks; may force Apple to offer iTunes subscription service – May 12, 2005
Napster To Go Soon? Reports $24.3 million net loss on $17.4 million net revenue – May 12, 2005
J.P. Morgan: Yahoo music service ‘does little to break Apple’s tight grip’ on digital music market – May 11, 2005
Yahoo launches Napster To Go, Rhapsody To Go killer (takes aim at Apple’s iTunes Music Store?) – May 11, 2005
RealNetworks drops 21%, Napster plummets 30% on Yahoo music news – May 11, 2005
Study shows Apple iTunes Music Store pay-per-download model preferred over subscription service – April 11, 2005
Yahoo doesn’t care about Mac users; just check out their LaunchCast site to get a taste of their lack of love for Mac. I sure hope Google cleans Yahoo’s clock in the near future!
I don’t want to rent my music and pay for it and then pay for it again when I buy it. I can always listen to the radio and find the songs I like or just listen to a sample on iTunes. And if it isn’t iPod compatible Yahoo is like all the rest of them, worthless!
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I guess you could stream to find the music you want then switch to iTunes and buy the tracks for your iPod.
Why are people blaming Yahoo for lack of compatibility with iPod? I thought that was because Apple refused to license FairPlay. It doesn’t really bother me that Apple refuses, but it’s not fair to blame Yahoo for that.
Look, I know millions of songs are being downloaded, the iTMS numbers ARE there. BUT, why is everyone getting all crazy over this? No matter what, I still prefer to purchase an actual CD – I’ll spend the extra two dollars to actually have a copy in my hand.
Sheesh…this reminds me of the Underpants Gnomes from South Park and/or the Dot Com Boom…
Business Plan:
1) Collect all Underpants
2) ?????
3) PROFIT!!!!
Are none of these online music stores developing a business plan? COME ON!
I agree with you Jake. If Apple won’t license fairplay, then how can they be compatible?
The services have to include some sort of DRM (I’m sure the music industry sees to that).
I drink the koolaid just like the rest of us, but the truth is, Apple is the one not allowing this to happen and is causing the problems. As long as the iPod stays so popular then everything will be fine, but Microsoft is making a lot of inroads with WM and the DRM never seems to work with Macs, which does suck.
my 2cents
Jake –
You’re correct. Boswell’s line that Yahoo is going to “have to include iPod offerings” shows a lack of understanding of the problem. You can bet dollars to doughnuts that Yahoo had the obligatory meeting with Don CorleApple, kissed the ring, and begged for FairPlay on this, the occasion of his daughter’s wedding. But the Godfather was not moved, and he dismissed them with a wave of his hypocritcal hand, as he was late for an interview where he would tout Apple’s embracing of an open source world.
The sheep around here tend to bleat (angrily) over any uninformed comment that maligns Apple, and bleat (merrily) over the ones that praise it, but there’s precious little analysis of the content.
On the subject of Yahoo’s offering in general, this one presents a *real* functionality that iTMS does not (yet) – they’ve got the purchases for 99 cents, PLUS for $5 a month you have unlimited try-out of everything. It’s not too much to spend monthly for full-blown access to all the music. Buy the ones you want to “own” as you go.
Yahoo’s service + an easy-to-use hack to allow these tracks to be played on iPod = a possible threat to iTMS.
Of course, that assumes they’ve got a decent music catalog to choose from. On this particular day, if they’ve got the Hustle & Flow soundtrack, they’re leaps and bounds ahead of Apple.
“Come to think of it, maybe the lack of iPod compatibility is the root of the problems all of these Windows Media-based online music stores are having?”
No shit, huh?
Yahoo could always ask to be Apple’s partner in the whole iTunes Music Store thing like AOL is today. They could promote it madly on their SBC Yahoo dsl service, which would be great for Apple.The reason why Yahoo won’t do this (if they have any intelligence at all they certainly brought up the idea) is because rival AOL is already partnered with Apple, and Yahoo already has their own music video/streaming site that’s been around far longer than iTMS.
Yeah, what the heck is Yahoo thinking with this “whole non-iPod stuff?”
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“Come to think of it, maybe the lack of iPod compatibility is the root of the problems all of these Windows Media-based online music stores are having?”
Good ones, MDN!
Oxford Dictionary/Thesarus
“Yahoo
noun-informal: redneck, boor, lout, oaf; barbarian, Neanderthal, brute, thug; informal clod, roughneck.”
I have to agree, it’s not fair to blame Yahoo (or anyone else) for the fact that their store isn’t compatible with the iPod. Personally, I think it’s time that Apple offers FairPlay to any music store (but not any players) that wants it, maybe even without a licensing fee. I don’t think it will eat iTMS’s marketshare much but even if it did, the bulk of the money comes from the iPod, not iTMS. What it would do is ensure that people will continue to buy iPods, even if they fall from grace (as so many unbelievably popular things eventually do – look at Hootie and the Blowfish ; ) ). More importantly, it would cement AAC and FairPlay as the standard and cut Microsoft off at the knees.
There is always a rush for Apple to open up the iPod to everyone else.
Funk that. Interoperability? Cry me a river.
As soon as MS makes it so I can buy songs from the other stores on my mac. Then we can talk.
As soon as MS makes it so Mac’s Messenger can IM at full strength with PC Messenger. Then we can talk.
As soon as Y! makes it so Mac’s Messenger can IM at full strength with PC Messenger. Then we can talk.
As soon as Y! makes it so My Y! Calendar, Address Book, and otehr services are at full strength with my mac. Then we can talk.
As soon as Y! makes it so thier Fantasy football add ons work on my mac then we can talk.
All this crying that Apple is hindering the adoption of digital downloads by locking people out of the iPod really pisses me off when many of the same parties don’t bat an eye at the fact they are ignoring Apple’s OSX users and giving them partial services.
Fine you can put songs on an iPOd from Y!, Napster, etc. but only Britany Spears and Raffi songs.
I wonder how thier users would feel to be on the other side of the fence.
iPod and iTunes are products competing in the market which successfully work for 99% of computer users. Why should Apple hand over market share to others for the sake of allowing them easier market entry??
Apple is rightly receiving the rewards of creating the best solution, the best products and the best software…
It will be the same for the Mac and OSX in the medium term too.
I’m with ndelc on this one. iTMS exists to sell iPods. If the perception grows that iPod’s lack of compatibility with other download services is going to hurt sales, then Apple should license Fairplay to select download partners. This will head off the “exclusive” label and open up the iPod market to buyers who want a different service, e.g. subscription. I’m sure the margin on each extra iPod sold will more than offset potential loss of iTMS sales. I just worry that Apple may have missed a chance with Yahoo. How many other big players are there who might be targets for that sort of deal?
….yea, what the chi guy said.
I’d like to add:
As soon as MS makes it so Mac’s Media Player can play the same videos as the PC Media Player. Then we can talk.
The only way I’d like to see Apple open the iPod/iTMS is to allow other stores to sell in AAC+Fairplay. Within the iTunes application instead of the current “Music Store” it would become the iTMS or some other name instead of Apple (unless they settle with the Beatles). Below that could be other store plug-ins with any song we purchase from any store going into our purchased music folder.
This sets up some good competition between several stores to license artists and to make their interface (within iTunes) the easist to use. If Napster were to survive to this point I’d consider buying a song from them if Apple didn’t have it.
This would further put the nail in WMA’s & Creative’s respective coffins.
guerilla street teams.. involves running up to people with white earbuds..yanking their ipods, stomping them, and giving away MuVos.
Yahoo has set aside $1B for any possible legal action.
Yahoo is not afraid to blow a little money (Marc Cuban…Marc Cuban..Marc Cuban…)
Preach on, chi guy! I’ve said it before, the “competition is good” crowd needs to remember that NONE OF THE COMPETING SERVICES WORK ON A MAC. Give me, a Mac user, a choice, and I’ll be happy to shop around. Until then, I’ll just cheerfully enjoy the fact that the only choice I have, iPod/iTunes, is winning.
Is not the problem that Yahoo downloads are in WMA format?! If it was an MP4, MP3 – or any of the other possible formats for iPod – one would be able to load and play the tune or your iPod.
The DRM is for playing the tune on your registered computer (to iTMS). Or, how one would be able to load the tune just bought on iTMS on multiple (no limit) number of iPods.
Motorola is NOT licensing FairPlay from Apple to allow its future customers to d/l mp4 tunes and load them into their iPods, or are they without telling anyone?
humm –
The DRM scheme has to be allowed on the device as well as the file format. So even mp3 and mp4 audio files w/ non-Fairplay DRM will not play on the iPod.
humm,
The problem is strictly with the DRM. Obviously the only way the record companies will allow the music to be sold online is if they are protected from piracy. From what I understand, and I’m not 100% sure this is true, DRM can’t be used with MP3’s (I’m not sure why this is, but apparently that’s the reason that no legit service uses them). MP4 is AAC, which is what Apple uses, and I believe Real uses AAC too, albeit with their own DRM. WMA is essentially the only other format that people have built DRM for, so, as it stands right now, the downloads either need to be AAC with FairPlay or Real’s DRM, or WMA with Microsoft’s DRM. Apple isn’t allowing any other store to license FairPlay, no one cares about Real, so that basically leaves Microsoft (which is exactly why I think Apple should start licensing FairPlay to other online stores).
The Motorola phone has a customized version of iTunes on it, so yes, in essence, they are using FairPlay.
Classic Godfather take, PC Apologist!!!
Apple refuses to license FairPlay.
Apple holds a good 70 to 80 per cent market share.
And they’re doing WHAT wrong precisely??
Look at chi guy’s post.
Rock on.
Oh, and just so you know-
The word you’re looking for is Micros**t
Not MS or Microshaft or even Micro$oft.
It’s Micros**t