snapshot 9/24/07

Starbucks to give away music as new service starts
Starbucks Corp said on Monday it will give away millions of songs via downloads starting next month as it launches a wireless music service with Apple Inc. From October 2 to November 7 at more than 10,000 U.S. Starbucks locations, customers can receive "Song of the Day" cards redeemable on Apple's iTunes store for a complimentary song hand-selected by Starbucks Entertainment, the company said. Starbucks said it will give away 1.5 million downloads per day for a total of more than 50 million free songs. Customers will have until the end of the year to redeem the song on iTunes.


Album art gets short shrift in digital marketplace
In today's digital music environment, album art -- like liner notes, lyrics and other extras considered commonplace in the physical world -- exists as a mere afterthought, if that. Its primary purpose is to serve as icons when shoppers scroll through vast music libraries on the computer or iPod.

There's no reason digital distribution channels can't spark the greatest innovations in cover art since the days of the vinyl LP. Animated album covers, interactive booklets and liner notes that link to other Web sites and multimedia material, customized album art where fans can place their own images -- all are possible in the digital distribution future.


Virgin drops Windows Media-based music download service
Virgin Group Ltd. will shut down its online music subscription and download service in the U.S. and U.K. next month, leaving one less competitor for Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store.


Classical fans must give in to downloads
Though classical music makes a respectable showing in iTunes, executives for compact disc purveyors from ArkivMusic to Brilliant Classics say their consumers are suspicious of downloads, fearing their music will be somehow swallowed up by their computer. Or, given the often-superior sound quality of compact discs, they don't see the point.

Yet given the low-margin, long-view profits that have made classical music almost un-American in its lack of market performance, the digital domain is the best news in years - especially since the demise of CD retailers that once sustained the classical industry, such as Tower Records.


AnywhereCD To Shut Down
AnywhereCD, the San Diego-based digital music retailer headed by MP3.com's Michael Robertson, is shutting down. According to an email from Robertson, the firm is officially shutting down in a few days, when the firm's contract to sell both CD and digital versions of Warner's music tracks expires. AnywhereCD allowed people to buy both CDs and DRM-free, MP3 versions of the same album through an online store. The idea was to provide both an MP3 and a physical CD for one price, however Robertson was only able to launch with Warner Music, and other labels had not signed on to try the idea.


Curacao/MusicNet deal aims to boost digital sales
This may partly account for the lag in digital sales of Latin music. According to Nielsen SoundScan, less than 1 percent of all digital albums sold so far this year were Latin. In contrast, Latin music accounted for 7 percent of all albums sold. A new alliance between Hispanic retailer La Curacao and content provider MusicNet will address both problems simultaneously, promoting online sales of Latin music and sales of media players and computers to Latin buyers.

Under the Curacao/MusicNet partnership, slated to go into effect by December, MusicNet will provide content for Pasito Tunes, a Hispanic-focused digital music service. Pasito will offer a music subscription service and a download store, both accessible on computers and portable media players. Pasito will have access to MusicNet's 4.5 million tracks but will appeal to Hispanic buyers with its own editorial voice.


Customers Ask: Is Apple Going Rotten?
But over the past two weeks, Apple's fans have been grumbling that the company they knew and loved is transforming into another Microsoft, making short-sighted, anti-consumer decisions and carelessly releasing products with user experience-diminishing problems. In response, an increasingly angry erosion of Apple's brand loyalty is beginning, with complaints mounting all over the Internet, including on the company's own discussion forums. This time, it's not just a cadre of Microsoft fans trying to anonymously stir up trouble for the Cupertino-based company, but rather legitimately upset Apple customers who are threatening boycotts of current and future iPod, iTunes, and Mac offerings.

Put aside Apple's $200 iPhone price drop, which generated a lot of anger but was quickly resolved by the company, and bugs in both new iPod and iTunes software, which the company is certainly working to repair. Instead, consider just four of the issues that are still largely unresolved by Apple, and the extreme anger and disappointment that its customers have been expressing as a result.


RADAR, next-generation media browser, launches at DEMO
MetaRADAR, a San Bruno, California company, is likely to turn some heads at DEMO when it unveils RADAR, a sleek new interface for browsing media on the web. While we haven’t been able to get our hands on the product, a quick demo reveals that the company has successfully created a means to browse and share media — news, videos, photos, data from your social networks, etc — in a rapid fire yet seamless experience that gives you quick access to all of the above without requiring you to fuddle with tabs or the like. The company calls it a “MediaMasher.”


Barrier-bustin' Internet may lead to a music industry "middle class"
In one of the final sessions of the Future of Music Policy Summit, panelists discussed how the music industry is going through a process of "disintermediation," where fewer steps stand between artist and audience, thanks to social networking and Internet distribution. "Someone spoke earlier about a 'musician's middle class,'" said Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora.com. "In this world, you don't need to be a full-time professional musician." Instead, the speakers noted that it's possible for amateur musicians or independent bands to reach new and unexpected audiences over the Web.


Vivendi labels Apple’s contact terms ‘indecent’
Speaking at a media gathering in France, Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy called the terms of Apple’s iTunes Store contract “indecent,” claiming that the iPod maker’s share of iTunes sales is too large. “The split between Apple and (music) producers is indecent ... Our contracts give too good a share to Apple,” Levy said. He also called for variable pricing, stating “We should have a differentiated price system.” In July, Vivendi’s Universal Music Group announced that it would not renew its long-term iTunes contract, deciding instead to renew its music distribution contracts with Apple on a monthly basis.


Microsoft Zune Patent Reveals Playlists/Music Over WiFi
A recent unearthed Microsoft patent details a preference based music service, where suggested music is directly pushed to your Zune based on your currently playing tunes. The selection would be forwarded to the device over WiFi, finally putting the Zune's WiFi function to some good use. Whether this will be linked to a conventional music store is not clear, but the work seems to be related to earlier filed patents.

The sharing fun does not stop there; the patent further describes a service that would enable playlist sharing between yourself and your imaginary friend, for whom you purchased a Zune. Essentially, the system would allow Zune users to subscribe to one another's playlists, which would automatically update every time you hit up on a WiFi hotspot.


Snocap Widget vs. Lala.com Widget
Snocap widgets are for single song downloading. To purchase an album over ten songs, it would be cheaper to go to iTunes or another download store (and cheaper yet to purchase at eMusic if available there). The James Blunt Lala.com widget -- the one case that exists to date -- allows for only an album download. (I cannot say if future Lala.com widgets will similarly offer only album downloads.)

The file formats offered by the two companies is another key difference. Snocap allows artists/labels to choose between MP3 or protected WMA files. In the case of Lala.com's James Blunt widget, the tracks are downloaded directly to the purchaser's iPod (and a CD is sent via snail mail). The tracks cannot be moved off the iPod to another device or to a computer. In effect, Lala.com allows Warner Music Group to sell iPod compatible music that dead-ends at its destination. Since the songs are not placed on the user's hard driver, the tracks will not end up on file-sharing networks.


Former Ramone sues over song downloads
Richard "Richie Ramone" Reinhardt, who performed with the Ramones between 1983 and 1987, sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Apple Inc., RealNetworks Inc., the band's management and the estate of its lead guitarist, claiming he had never fully signed over the rights to the six songs he wrote for the group.

Specifically, Reinhardt said there was never any written deal authorizing the sale of those songs digitally. He said he is owed at least $900,000 in royalties, and asked the court to issue an injunction preventing further use of his compositions without permission.