Apr 22
What has been happening in the world of digital music lately?
2004 at 02.55 am posted by Veerle Pieters
Time for getting you up to speed concerning the digital music revolution. It seems that the iPod, iTunes and Digital Rights Management (DRM) are hot topics at NAB.
Let’s start with the sad news. Yes more delays for the European iTunes music store. Apple Europe vice president Pascal Cagni warned this week that the launch of the iTunes Music Store in Europe may be delayed for “a few months”, while the company works to ensure that the service will be “perfect”. He cited Europe’s sometimes-conflicting music-business bureaucracy and its recalcitrance in arranging digital music licenses as cause of the delay.
The iPod Mini is also delayed, according to the latest news it will be July 2004 until we can buy them here in Belgium.
In related news, The European Commission (EC) released a report on Monday in which it urged the music industry and its disparate collection of died-in-the-wool rights bodies to create a pan-European music download license.
Boy what a mess, and still they are complaining about losing money. Napster seems to face the same amount of trouble as Apple since there will be delays for Napster too.
Now IBM also joined the Club of Digital Rights Management (DRM). So now you have Apple, Microsoft, Real Networks en Sony and IBM. So will history repeat itself as with all those video standards way back in the day?
RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser and some others see the potential for history to repeat itself in the digital music world, if Apple persists in keeping its software and hardware closed. “It’s kind of a Soviet model,” said Glaser, referring to Apple’s closed environment in a remark that drew laugher from the audience at the annual National Association of Broadcasters conference.
To me this all sounds like a desperate attempt to save the ship before going under. It is way too soon to say who is going to be the winner here but it’s safe to say that Microsoft will be a strong competitor once they enter the Music market.
I also believe that Apple isn’t stupid and if needed they will open up their model, but why already doing it now if you have such a strong lead? Everybody is referring to the Macintosh past but they all forget one thing that it wasn’t Steve Jobs who closed the Macintosh world but Scully. Steve Jobs vision was building a computer for everyone and I would bet he has the same vision about the iPod. Wait and see is all we can do here.
5served
1
if Apple persists in keeping its software and hardware closed.
With iTunes being available on Windows, I don’t think this will be as much of an issue as perceived. Judging from the amount of Windows users here at work who have downloaded iTunes and are obviously enjoying the program (My Shared Music list is approaching 2 dozen strong), I agree in the assement that Microsoft will have a tough fight on their hands when (not if) they enter the market.
2
the ipod would have to be the best mp3 portable player out there ... however it needs to become more accessible ...... it needs to support more format then just mp3 .....
3
what other formats do you need? :/
mp3 is the way you wonna go for music imo
4
Apple’s DRM says that I can only make a copy three times which kils me. I need a copy on my laptop, a copy on my desktop, a copy on cd for my car and then one on my portable MP3 player. I have never found a DRM that works for me, worse yet I have not found one that works for the media companies.
5
@ DRM: Your information is incorrect as you can read on the Apple website : You can burn individual songs onto an unlimited number of CDs for your personal use, listen to songs on an unlimited number of iPods and play songs on up to five Macintosh computers or Windows PCs .