Sony Connect Online Music Download Store Launches 373
securitas writes "USA Today's Jefferson Graham reports that today Sony launched its online music download store, Sony Connect, to compete with Apple's leading iTunes service. The tracks use the MagicGate DRM copy-protection scheme and will work only with Sony Memory Stick-compatible devices including VAIO computers, CLIE PDAs, MiniDisc, CD and Walkman products. Sony will also launch a new line of 1-gigabyte Hi-MD disc players that support the service. Sony Connect's catalog sports 500,000 tracks from independent and major labels and songs sell for 99 cents each or $10 per album. The service uses Sony's SonicStage software and works with Windows 98SE-XP PCs only. It is only available in the USA until the planned European launch in June. That's a whole lot of restrictions in an already-fragmented market. More at The Register and The Age."
Loss leader? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Loss leader? (Score:3, Interesting)
So basically, Sony copied Apple . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So basically, Sony copied Apple . . . (Score:5, Funny)
Yet another wonderful idea from the Sales Prevention Team at Sony!
Re:So basically, Sony copied Apple . . . (Score:5, Informative)
I had to read this information on the web, because nowhere in the little Sony store display, or on the package of one such recorder, did I see any mention of their proprietary format, or the time it would take to record.
Fucking....Bastards.
DRM, especially DRM that the company selling it is trying to control, seems to always becoming at the expense of convenience for the user.
Re:So basically, Sony copied Apple . . . (Score:3, Insightful)
1) RIAA will not license you to sell music without a DRM system in place.
2) RIAA will not license you to sell music that can have perfect reproduction.
Then you have to pay bandwidth costs on the pipes going in/out of your store. Of course everyone will choose the largest file size possible. It all adds up especially when you are only getting a percentage of the 99 cents.
I am guessing that as soon as they can
But can you burn CDs with the sony store?? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:So basically, Sony copied Apple . . . (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah, that's my biggest gripe with Apple and iTMS. I mean, iTMS only works on Windows and Mac. Yeesh. Talk about vendor lock in - what about non-Apple machines?
*whispering off camera*
Huh? Apple doesn't make i386 machines? And they don't make Windows? Oh, uh ok. Well, still, it sucks that you can only burn CDs on Apple computers.
*more whispering*
Wait, you can burn CDs on any machine with iTunes and a CD burner? Oh, well, OK, it still sucks that you can only burn them on Apple media and then only play them back on Apple CD players.
*whispering, louder this time*
Wait, they're regular audio CDs that you can play back in your car or home stereo? Red-Book compliant? No Apple computer required? And you can burn them to any CD-R media? Hrm. Well, there's still vendor lock-in because of the, uh, hrm, let me get back to you on this one...
Re:So basically, Sony copied Apple . . . (Score:3, Insightful)
Uuh... (Score:5, Funny)
Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:3, Interesting)
1. They're a major record label AND a major PC vendor
2. They can get into the Japanese market easier
I think they'll be able to clobber Apple.
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:3, Insightful)
Ask Nintendo or Sega how many years of head start they had over Sony, see what their answer is.
Note: this is not to say that Sony will conquer, but that the above reason is no
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:3, Interesting)
Furth
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:4, Informative)
Years and years of past experiences.
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:2)
Sony has no angle like IBM did (Score:5, Insightful)
So where's Sony's parallel advantage here? I think that analogy is a good thing to keep in mind in general, but very fallacious because Sony doesn't have a big captive audience that they can convince on a new standard.
For the record, MP3 is the Standard For Music, with all its faults (poor quality and no DRM from the label's POV) is the standard and will remain so for a while because of its ubiquity and freedom of use. The iPod has become the de-facto "Standard For MP3-Players" and it's not a personal thing--I'm just going by marketshare here.
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:5, Insightful)
Sony is a good, solid brand. I own and love a Sony digital camera and have had treasured Walkman units throughout the years, but Sony is not quite as hip of a brand as Apple.
But I might end up surprised. With enough artist support and advertising, Sony might do economically better with their store.
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:2)
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:4, Interesting)
Where I see Sony having an advantage is their size and market force that Apple cannot touch. Sony doesn't have to pay the same royalties that Apple does to labels sine Sony is a major label. Sony can also pull strings to get a bunch of thier "cool" "artists" to do some commercials and you now have millions of screaming teens crying to their parents to get them a device from Sony. Next, Sony can do deals with MS that Apple just cannot do. With MS and Sony, they can own the Media market by locking consumers into their technology. Give it about two years and Apple will dwindle, not because iTMS is bad, but becuase it is just too hard to fight "the system".
Think about all the things Sony can do to stop Apple. They can do back room deals with other labels to release new content to only thier format or MS's format. That right there would slowly kill Apple. Either Apple dies or changes iTMS to work with the new formats. If Apple works with the new formats, then Apple loses the lock-in to their iPod.
That's funny! (Score:5, Insightful)
2. Yeah. Apple has no following in Japan at all. Give me a break! The Japanese can't keep their hands off sexy, stylish, hip little things. I predict it'll be even harder to get your hands on the iPod mini in Japan (upon its release there) as it has been in the US. Name a Sony product that's come out in the last three years that's got anywhere near the amount of buzz as the 3rd-gen. iPod and iPod mini.
I think the words [pkmeco.com] of Seinfeld's Jackie Chiles will soon apply for Sony here: "This is the most public yet of my many humiliations."
Re:Uh.... (Score:3, Informative)
I purposely worded my question to exclude the PS2. I kinda feel like PlayStation is the only line that Sony's really handled well. And the quality of games available is its best attribute.
PS: You have no clue how many times I had to Google to get that date. The obvious, "playstation 2 release date" just gets list after list of when each game was/will be released.
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:2, Funny)
That was only 2.
Re:Kiss Apple Goodbye! (Score:2, Interesting)
But for me, I found their music B.S. rather insulting and very limiting. Overall it just plain sucks. I know this from experience afte
Why do they still push the memory stick (Score:5, Interesting)
when I look for a divice that uses a flash card, I do not buy sony because I will not be able to use it on any other device I already own, right now I am looking at digital camras, and I sony is not even an option for me because I can not use it with any other device I use, I want one with an sd card because all my other devices accept an SD card.
I think it is not a good idea to only suppord devices that only use a memory stick for it, since, that limites your market right there.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Why do they still push the memory stick (Score:2)
My father visited me in France, and brought his Cannon digital camera, which uses CF cards. I took one, popped it in my Sharp Zaurus, and viewed/copied/emailed the pics. I have an SMC CF WiFi that works on my IBM X20 as well. Two friends of mine have HP cameras, and they use SD cards. My Zaurus also has an SD slot, so I can see/exchange pics with them.
I was wondering why Sony continues to fight this battle as well, but don't forget who was behind beta video cassettes. (Yes, I know the story, and I h
Re:Why do they still push the memory stick (Score:2)
AFAIK, there isn't any compatible DRM for music. Maybe CSS (the now-broken DVD restriction scheme) convinced the industry that if you let enough parties implement the technology somebody will mess up and let the cat out of the bag?
Re:Why do they still push the memory stick (Score:2)
There's more info at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscf828/ [dpreview.com].
This gives you two things: (1) you can now consider the Sony if you already have CompactFlash and (2) if you don't own CompactFlash, you can buy this camera without worrying about locking yourself into Memory Stick technology.
One problem, though--I believe writing to the memory stick
Retarded (Score:3, Insightful)
heh (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:heh (Score:3, Informative)
So where to start, old and aging is semi-true in the light of the older players. They store a CD's worth of music at a decent compression, 2-3 at a reasonable compression, which I'd say rivals most reasonable MP3 bitrates, and the 4x mode isn't rea
This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:5, Interesting)
From the sonyconnect site [sonyconnect.com]: "What devices are compatible with Connect?
Any ATRAC-compatible device from Sony works with Connect."
Great! This will be a huge hit with the people who thought Apple's music store doesn't support enough players.
I wonder how many iPods there are out there in the public's hands for every Sony Memory-Stick and "Hi-MD" device. I'm guessing at least 4, and that's being generous to Sony.
And 1GB. Wow. That's sooo much music. Has anyone at Sony ever even heard of hard drives? C'mon, I was expecting some sort of competition here, but this is more like a joke.
Anyone know what restrictions the DRM imposes? They conveniently make no mention of it on their 5-page website (overview, features, download, customer support, independent label signup). I'd say that's pretty relevant information to put out front if you want to convince people to download your software.
-Daniel Pritchard [starseven.net]
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:3, Insightful)
I guess there go my hopes of having a NetMD plugin for iTunes! I love the NetMD player... it's small and it runs for 50 hours on a single AA battery. That and it's cheap -- I can drop it and not worry!
What a coincidence! (Score:5, Funny)
What a coincidence!
That's the same reason I drive a Yugo!
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:2)
The first thing I do when I purchase something from iTunes music store is burn it to CD and recode it in 256 mbps MP3s.
I'd mod the above as Flamebait. *Any* time competition enters the market it's good for the industry. I don't want Apple, or any other compan
You disagree...why? (Score:5, Insightful)
And you disagree with me here why? I didn't say it was bad for the industry!!
I'm criticizing SonyConnect because the Sony store and players are more restrictive than Apple. If you hate Apple, then fine. Don't buy an iPod or don't use iTMS. But do you think Sony is going to support OGG? Do you think they'll support AAC (DRM or no)? If you do you're dreaming. And if you hate Apple because of their "restrictions" you are going to hate Sony even more.
Sony makes Apple look like a bastion of free choice by comparison.
Re:You disagree...why? (Score:3, Insightful)
Second, I know Sony isn't going to support AAC (although someone may figure out an iPod-like hack for Ogg). The point is that the more large competitors you get into the mix, the better the devices have to get. Your original post sounded like you were condemning Sony to failure because Apple's solution is so much better. It isn't.
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm avoiding iPods because they're bloody expensive. $249 (mini) or $299 (regular) for a souped-up walkman? Ridiculous.
Small flash-memory USB-stick mp3 players are priced around the $80-$90 mark, which is a much saner figure for personal music.
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm curious about what kind of DRM is there as well. I know SonicStage is supposed to interact with windows DRM in some capacity, not sure why.
My main problem with this is SonicStage. Can't get it working under wine (because of aforementioned windows DRM integration). And even in
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:2)
- Cheap. Some asshole already stole my first one. I bought another one, that set me back like $130, but much less than an iPod, but for gym sessions, bike rides, plane trips, more than enough.
- Cheap media. Sure they don't hold much, but at $2 per 170MB disk, I can carry arround good amount of music. Not as much as an iPod
- Recordable. Optical and analog line-in. Live shows anyone? Many peo
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:2)
MD versus hard drives. (Score:5, Informative)
When I wrote this reply, I interpreted your comment differently. I thought you were saying the media is "not as much [cost] as an iPod" when you apparently meant "not as much music as an iPod." But this is still something to consider.
$2 per 170MB disk
First, observe how ridiculous Sony's pricing here is in itself, when a 700MB standards-based disk called CD-ROM is $0.10.
Second, consider how many of these it would take to carry a substantial portion of music on you:
Let's take my 15GB iPod to compare. That's 88.2 MiniDiscs. Aren't they encased in little sleeves like floppy disks? So that would only take up your entire backpack. And the cost...
89 * $2.00 = $178.
So add $166 to the cost of the player (which you quoted as $130). So at least $308. So for $9 less you could have all your music on the player at the same time, and you wouldn't need a backpack-load of discs to carry it. And it would take about 20 minutes to transfer it the first time instead of having to record 89 MiniDiscs which I'm pretty sure would require a few days and a LOT of patience.
MiniDisc players are good for recording high quality audio, if you ever do that. And if you find the CD player a convenient way of listening to your music collection, but want something smaller, you probably wouldn't be disappointed by MD. But the whole point of good MP3 players (at least for me) is that you can put ALL of your music (or at least all the music that's important to you) on this player and never have to sit down for twenty minutes and think about "which 1% of my music should I take with me today?" With hard-drive based players, you can decide what you want to hear whenever you want, and have it playing five seconds later. Sony can't offer that with Memory Stick or with MD. They need to discover the hard drive. i don't see a real disadvantage to it.
I mean, what's the big incentive to switch from CD to MD? "Well, it's a little smaller. And you can use our proprietary software to restrict your rights to listen to your own music!"
Whereas the incentive to switch from CD to hard-drive players is much more tangible--carry all your music in a package much smaller than your CD [or MD] player, and it also doubles as an external hard drive. To update your collection, you plug it in and it downloads any new songs. This is much more compelling, and it's why Sony will lose this battle by a wide margin.
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:2)
Yes. They're behind (as with the music store itself), but you only have to wait until this fall.
Re:This sounds like a joke, but it's not April 1. (Score:3, Interesting)
It depends on whether the ordinary MD players will be compatible (they all use ATRAC). According to this link [pcworld.com] 56 million MD players had shipped worldwide at the
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why i will never buy sony again. (Score:3, Informative)
I didn't install Sony's software (just the drivers and the OpenMG encoder) -- I use RealPlayer 10 which is surprisingly a decent product... Real cleaned up their act. The RealPlayer plugin for NetMD doesn't have DRM... although it takes a bit of work to get my iTMS purchased files onto my NetMD.
Also if you purchased a more expensive model it would have had a SPDIF input.
Re:Why i will never buy sony again. (Score:2)
Re:Why i will never buy sony again. (Score:5, Insightful)
It cannot be denied that SONY was once one of the greatest companies on earth. Take a look [pocketcalculatorshow.com] if you have not already seen this gallery of Walkmen. They got it right lots of times, in many areas.
In this one area, digital music, they have got it completely wrong. This is unusual for SONY. Their portable digital music players have completely flopped, their proprietary encoder is a failure, and they are being left out in the cold in an area where they should be numnber one.
They were in a position to set the rules. They own Columbia and its huge back catalogue. They have the technical expertise to build the most seductive portables. They have software developers. What they were/are missing is the foresight.
They should have:
They would have owned the portable music player space, created the number one destination for music online, demonstrated that MP3s are the new radio, short circuted all the RIAA lawsuits, and....acted more like SONY.
The problem with Sony is internal, not external (Score:5, Insightful)
Correct, but what Sony also has is accountants, and they exert undue influence in Sony's strategic decisions. Allow me to digress for a moment, and I'll explain why this matters.
Sony is a two-pronged company -- they sell 1)content (music, movies, etc) and 2) components (televisions, vcrs, robots, etc.)
These two divisions are opposed to one another. The component side wants to make the open, flexible "killer" hardware we want, but the content side of the company wants those devices locked down (to the point that they're not useful) so as to prevent "theft" of intellectual property, copying movies/music, etc. So these two halves are continuously fighting against one another and the CEO must decide what the right balance is.
In step the Accountants. They're there to help the CEO make this decision, but Sony's beanmen only understand a static balance sheet -- as if Sony must choose between sales of Hardware or Content. They conclude that if a sony device can be used to copy music, they will lose sales from the content side of Sony, therefore the device must 1) be locked down, 2) be expensive enough to offset potential losses from the content side, 3)contain DRM to protect Sony's IP.
Fortunately, Sony's not the only player in the market, so their sales remain poor and they end up squandering an opportunity to compete.
This scenario is good!; the way I see it every company that fails at marketing a DRM device is a win for the consumer. Perhaps after years of disappointing sales, the boardroom will tire of seeing their money wasted and demand a decision, one way or the other (content vs. component) be made. Thus, the stalemate is broken and the company can move forward.
In short, Sony's current "have it all" strategy is doomed in a free market*: Given the choice, people don't want DRM. Let's just hope Sony's (or any other company following this model) spectacular economic flame-out doesn't encourage them to pressure government officials to mandate DRM in order to prop up their failing business model.
Talk about limiting your options (Score:3, Interesting)
The trendy people and the first-out-of-the-gate people have already gone to Apple. And people interested in their own personaly freedom and fair use will be using one of the services that doesn't include all this hand-tying. So I think Sony might get 10 or 20 people to use this.
Re:Talk about limiting your options (Score:2)
"Loss" - what do they mean? (Score:5, Insightful)
The claim is mostly inaccurate because it presupposes that the friend would otherwise have bought a copy from the publisher. That is occasionally true, but more often false; and when it is false, the claimed loss does not occur.
The claim is partly misleading because the word "loss" suggests events of a very different nature--events in which something they have is taken away from them. For example, if the bookstore's stock of books were burned, or if the money in the register got torn up, that would really be a "loss." We generally agree it is wrong to do these things to other people. But when your friend avoids the need to buy a copy of a book, the bookstore and the publisher do not lose anything they had. A more fitting description would be that the bookstore and publisher get less income than they might have got. The same consequence can result if your friend decides to play bridge instead of reading a book. In a free market system, no business is entitled to cry "foul" just because a potential customer chooses not to deal with them.
The claim is begging the question because the idea of "loss" is based on the assumption that the publisher "should have" got paid. That is based on the assumption that copyright exists and prohibits individual copying. But that is just the issue at hand: what should copyright cover? If the public decides it can share copies, then the publisher is not entitled to expect to be paid for each copy, and so cannot claim there is a "loss" when it is not. In other words, the "loss" comes from the copyright system; it is not an inherent part of copying. Copying in itself hurts no one.
Re:"Loss" - what do they mean? (Score:2)
I claim that this sets up a situation whereby there are two classes of people: those that have fast Internet connections with the knowledge to use them, and those that do not. The "Internet savvy" folks get everything they want for free, the others have to pay.
Is this a tax on ignorance? On lack of tech skills? I
So Then (Score:2, Interesting)
DRM and proprietary memory stick, that just doubles my reasons not to subscribe to it.
S.C.O (Score:5, Funny)
All of MP3 already outcompetes this (Score:5, Informative)
It's cheap (1 cent per megabyte), great quality (offers me lossless FLAC files), and legal (royalties paid to ROMS, the relevant group in Russia). And the files are unencumbered
All the problems of iTunes (summarized excellently at Downhill Battle [downhillbattle.org]) still apply. Why go for something restricted, too expensive, and too controlled by the media monopoly, when you can get cheap legal music from Allofmp3 or similar services?
Re:All of MP3 already outcompetes this (Score:2)
Re:All of MP3 already outcompetes this (Score:2, Informative)
Re:All of MP3 already outcompetes this (Score:2)
Re:All of MP3 already outcompetes this (Score:3, Informative)
So while Paypal isn't the best company in the world, your not exactly handing your cc to some Russian hacker, or whatever.
By the way, does to country of origin automatically dictate that a service is run by super evil mafiosos? Seems like a bit of stereotyping to me.
Gailin
Re:All of MP3 already outcompetes this (Score:5, Informative)
Not even close. Itunes pays the greedy record industry bastards 50 cents. There is a huge difference. The artists are likely to get 2.5 cents [ezboard.com]
Sure. (Score:3, Insightful)
So many restrictions.... (Score:3, Funny)
Deja Vu (Score:5, Insightful)
Betamax : Tried to push its own standard. Failed even though it was superior.
Minidisc : See above
Memory Stick : Again persists on going it alone even though other standards are more popular and widespread (CF and SD)
Sony connect : Lauches its own spin when other established players are already in the market.
Interoperability means nothing to these guys.
Re:Deja Vu (Score:3, Interesting)
Some companies (Sony et al) get so wrapped up in themselves that they can't understand why anyone would want to do anything their own way, or without purchasing something. It all comes down to the mindset of the company. On one hand you have people who think
"What do my customers want? How can I make them happy and make them want to do business with me?"
Hooray for them! But they are a dying breed. Now you are more likely to find companies that think
"This is what you want t
Re:Deja Vu (Score:2)
It just never really caught on here in the states.
Re:Deja Vu (Score:2)
Furthermore, I don't think the minidisc is a failure. Nor the memory stick. They might not have dominated the market, but that doesn't mean they are failures.
Re:Deja Vu (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway "Betamaxing" is a more or less well-accepted term for licensing something into oblivi
Re:Deja Vu (Score:5, Informative)
OT, but to correct this little urban legend... "superior" is in some ways relative, and in Beta's case applies to only one measure: resolution. Even there the difference was small and was more than offset by the tiny capacity of Beta tapes - you could fit far more on a VHS tape, so I'm not sure this is an overall technical win for Beta. Regardless, SuperVHS was on the market at the same time as consumer Beta and those wanting a sharper picture could simply opt for an SVHS machine (as I did) to get the best of all possible worlds. Obviously, VHS also offered the most choice in hardware and software, so I've always thought it questionable when I see Beta listed as "superior" to VHS. Beta was just poorly designed and implemented all around.
The Beta format is still used in news and other professional industries, though vastly upgraded over the consumer version (and with the obvious added expense). It's still not a "standard" though, as other tape formats are common as well.
Minidisc : See above
Minidisc was never superior to anything. ATRAC initially compressed music pretty badly, to the point where it was initially not much better than analog cassette tapes, let alone CD's or even MP3's. Capacity was always an issue with MD as well, as it was with beta. MD was (and to an extent still is) useful for certain things like recording live shows or DJ sets, where you could plug a portable player in and basically have a poor-man's DAT. Sound quality was not equal to DAT, but the discs were/are more durable and user-friendly.
MD did fairly well in Japan but it was despite its technical limitations, not because of any superiority. It really succeeded there because the discs and players were small, not for any other reason.
I guess my point is this music store is just another in a series of Sony blunders. They've had plenty of success stories as well, but they're no stranger to failure and this seems like another doomed venture to me. How many crippled music file sites can the market support, anyway? If iTunes cannot even meet its own expectations (despite Jobs' proclamation that it has "exceeded all expectations", 70 million is still a lot less than 100 million), then I don't see what vast untapped market Sony is expecting to materialize. They're going after the same tiny market of overpaying, choice-hating DRM-lovers that Apple is, and not very well, I might add.
Playstation (Score:5, Interesting)
At least you can use Apple's stuff.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Rob Enderle speaks (Score:2, Funny)
Since everything he says is wrong, can we assume that Sony actually has a chance?
DOA (Score:5, Interesting)
You would think the Betamaxalicious success of MiniDisc (yeah yeah, its big in Japan, whatever) would have taught Sony a lesson here. Its amazing, Sony has gone from being one of the smartest companies in consumer electronics to one of the dumbest in a very short period of time.
Their financials are in the crapper and they can't seem to bring anything to market to dissaude iPod buyers.
Who designed their site? (Score:5, Interesting)
No Mac Client (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
This is so sad... i'll stick with iTunes
Wait....let me get this straight (Score:2)
So this thing will ONLY work with those devices? They qualified the statement with the term 'including' so that makes me wonder if other computers could use it besides VAIO's. If it is indeed limited to VAIOs for computers, well....Sony just shot itself in the foot with a BFG. Not only are they entering an already s
$1 per track is far too expensive (Score:5, Insightful)
When will the music companies realise that $1 per track is far too expensive, and their profits would probably increase if they acutally decreased the prices. And they'd have much happier customers as a result.
If tracks were 10c each, I would quite happily buy whole albums without worrying if I might not like them after a couple of plays. I buy up whole genres of music - if it cost me $50 to buy up all the best punk tracks of the 70's (or whatever), I would do that, despite it being a genre I never normally listen to.
However, I spend very little on music. I just don't like to get ripped off and I don't think $1 a track is justifiable when they have virtually zero distribution costs. And don't give me all that crap about how expensive it is to promote a record, or how the cost has to be high to pay for the flops. That's just all bullshit, especially with the near zero distribution and manufacture costs that the internet allows.
Re:$1 per track is far too expensive (Score:3, Informative)
Occam's Razor would indicate that with many people's livelihoods at stake, the online music retailers have done a substantial amount of research into the pricing of music -- at least, more than the average Slashdotter. Anecdotal stories aside, it appears that $0.99 is the current point on the supply/demand curve that generates satisfactory volume and profitability. Pricing theory is an incredibly detailed art and science, and you can be sure that companies of this size are spending the bucks to do the mat
Re:$1 per track is far too expensive (Score:3, Insightful)
Your argument appears to be "people will pay it so it's the right price".
It's the only price. They have to pay it. I'm not sure your logic is so great either.
I'm still old fasioned, going to the record store to pick up CDs I like
Who's living in the past..? My argument doesn't apply to CDs. I appreciate that there are production and distribution costs involved which make those more expensive. Downloaded tracks should be cheaper. They're not. Why not?
You say $1 is the right price
Nothing wrong with choice (Score:3, Insightful)
OK, this one has DRM and vendor lock-in etc. But it's still a competition for Apple. And unless Sony and Apple get into a cartel, that's a good thing. Because at the very least, Sony can generate an environment where prices may even drop. Remember, you wouldn't see any sale prices on your favorite food if there was only one supermarket chain in existence.
Are you people really such sad, ignorant elitists?
Fragmented market (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm sorry, but I can't help but say anything but "fuck you!" to all that.
If they can make their DRM work just fine with winamp, and not require me to have any special software to use their site, I might be able to deal with it.
You might try and compare it to online games, but most of those, you get the game and the rest is pretty much automatic. It's more like if Amazon and Barnes and Noble required you to use their own proprietary browsers to shop their web sites.
It might be MEANT to be a pain in the ass to make it harder to switch to a competitor...but the first site that can keep out of court and turn a profit while using nothing more than a web browser, will be the one who can REALLY take on Apple.
it wont fly to well... (Score:3, Interesting)
One Year From Now (Score:2)
They'll probably talk for hours and never really figure out what happened. They probably don't even realize how badly they suck.
Memory Stick? MagicGate?! (Score:5, Funny)
This service is dead dead dead dead DEAD . Toast. Kaputt. Stick a fork in it.
Betamax and VHS... (Score:2, Interesting)
It's interesting how Sony [sony.net] portrays their own history.
Official Policy (Score:4, Informative)
Sony Connect hereby grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Connect Downloads in accordance with the following limitations (the "Limitations on Use"):
Permitted Uses: You may play the Connect Downloads an unlimited number of times on up to three (3) personal computers that are registered with the Connect service, including the personal computer on which the Connect Downloads are originally downloaded. Once downloaded to that personal computer, you may transfer the licensed Connect Downloads an unlimited number of times (except for WMG's Content, which may be transferred up to three (3) times) to portable music devices and media that read the OpenMG DRM such as the HiMD, the Net MD, and the Memory Stick media. You may not thereafter transfer, copy or export (or the like) such Connect Download from one such device to another, or to any media of any kind without maintaining the OpenMGDRM. In addition, you may also "burn" up to a total of ten (10) (up to five (5) permanent copies of the Connect Downloads in compressed form in the Atrac3 codec encrypted and protected by the OpenMG DRM and up to five (5) Redbook CD's) to either blank recordable CD-R compact discs or blank recordable CD-RW compact disc (i.e., a physical, non-interactive record configuration that conforms to either (i) in the case of CD-Rs, the so-called "Orange Book Part II" technical specification for "write once" compact discs or (ii) in the case of CD-RWs, the so-called "Orange Book Part III" technical specification for "re-writable" compact discs). Any burning or transferring capabilities of the Connect Downloads are solely an accommodation to you and shall not constitute a grant or waiver (or other limitation or implication) of any rights of the copyright owners of the sound recording and underlying musical composition embodied in the Connect Download.
Non-Permitted Uses: Any use of the sound recordings as embodied in the Connect Download other than as permitted above is a violation of the copyright in such sound recording under applicable laws, and is prohibited. Except as expressly permitted in the "Permitted Uses" section above, you may not reproduce, distribute or transfer the Connect Downloads, in any format. For example, you may not: (i) transfer the Connect Downloads to anyone else; (ii) register more than 3 computers with the Connect store at any one time; (iii) copy or transfer the Connect Downloads to more than the number of portable music devices expressly permitted in the "Permitted Uses" section above; (iv) "burn" more than ten (10) copies of any particular Connect Download to blank recordable compact disc; or (v) copy or transfer the Connect Downloads to any storage device or blank media not specifically authorized in the "Permitted Uses" section above. In addition, you may not reverse engineer, transcode, decompile, translate, adapt, modify, disassemble or otherwise tamper with the Content, or the software, or circumvent any technology designed to enforce these Limitations on Use. You further agree that you will not attempt to modify the software or the Usage Rules for any reason whatsoever, including for the purpose of disguising or changing ownership of the Content.
Here's a tidbit they buried in the docs (Score:5, Interesting)
Do not use SonicStage while logged on to a domain user account under Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition.
SonicStage should be installed while logged on to an account with administrator privileges.
So I can't be logged into a domain while using the software? so much for the "at-work" crowd.
Much bigger than you think. . . (Score:4, Informative)
This is actually much bigger than you think. . . in fact it's much
bigger than Sony or portables
This Sony Connect actually fits into a larger distro called AnyMusic available in Japan that was
created by a cooperation of Japanese consumer electronic firms including Sony. AnyMusic [eetimes.com]
Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sharp, Onkyo, Marantz, Denon, JVC, and Yamaha
plan on creating consumer electronic devices beyond portables that will
be comptable with the online distro (using Atrac3 and OpenMG X/Label
Gate); also likely the Sony PSP/PS3 will also be compatible as well as
other non-sony devices.
Here are some devices that support the format:
Pioneer [impress.co.jp]
X-AM1
Kenwood [impress.co.jp]
Sony [impress.co.jp]
NetJuke (40GB HDD)
Demos:
Corporate [impress.co.jp]
CE [impress.co.jp]
screenshot
99 cents per song sounds familiar (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:99 cents per song sounds familiar (Score:3, Interesting)
You can typically take what Andrew Orlowski writes with a grain of salt, or at least apply an appropriate filter. He is not an unbiased journalist.
I don't know if he used the word "badger" or you, but that's hugely overstating it. Some record companies were discussing changing the pricing, but discussing pricing strategy is a major part of what all companies do -- even "good" companies like Apple and Red Hat.
The Important Stuff Was Well Hidden... (Score:5, Informative)
Three PC's running Connect which may play your purchased files. Which is only available on PCs, no Mac version. iTMS just increased this to 5 PC's.
Each track may be "burned" 10 times: 5 times as a compressed, DRM protected file, and 5 times as an unprotected CD audio track. iTMS makes no claims on limiting the number of times you may copy the protected file. Each track can be burned from a single playlist 7 times (two more than Connect), and from different playlists over and over (no total burn limit).
Unlimited copies to devices which support OpenMG copy protection. Unless you have a file from "WMG", which can only be placed on 3 portable devices. All of the compatible devices are made by Sony. iTMS lets you make unlimited copies to iPods, made by Apple. Depends on the device you like.
Sounds likes iTMS has them blown away. I'm not sure how (or if) these are enforced by Connect. How you do keep people from backing up their purchased files to CDs?
What's the advantage to the consumer? (Score:5, Insightful)
I could understand Sony Connect if it existed in a music vacuum, but since it has competition, they would have to answer the single question: What is the compelling advantage to the consumer to buy their product?.
While I have a number of Sony devices which include memory sticks, I haven't considered tasking any of them to be music players because of other limitations inherent to the devices. For example. minimal available memory in a Clie, or the availability of more convenient modes of usage (CDs) in a VAIO notebook.
To repeat, I can't find a single compelling reason to consider purchasing from their online store over its competition. Can you?
When will people realize? (Score:3, Insightful)
Even if fair use it taken into consideration through the use of proprietary hardware, the big companies will take those rights away as soon as they have M$-sized market share (proportionally-speaking) and people can't afford to switch to a platform that takes their interests into consideration.
I guess if you're gullible enough to chase after the pretty bells and whistles without considering the consequences, you deserve whatever happens. I guess that really means I don't have a point.
Re:I did work for these guys (Score:5, Insightful)
http://www.wagnerconsultingllc.com/ goes nowhere. Hidden backdoors in BSD? One Eyed Jack? His journal claims that he's charging Rusty six figures for work on kuro5hin.org's back-end code, and his other entries are almost as amusing.
Sir, your fiction borders on the believable, in a Clancy-esque way. I congratulate you.
Hamster
Big Up The Archos Massive (Score:3, Interesting)
I paid $72 (new!) for a 20GB Archos about which I have no illusions as to hype factor but whose low price makes it an envied object by many of my friends. Maybe I have cheap friends?
My "cutting-edge" Archos [rockbox.haxx.se] plays video, features speaking-voice menu prompts and playlists, unlimited bookmarking, and supports a robust plugin architecture with games and PDA functions.
If and when the iPod Lin