Wednesday, December 19, 2007

snapshot 12/19/07

Soundbuzz offers Lossless Downloads in Singapore
Online music store Soundbuzz is offering customers in Singapore the ability to purchase lossless audio files. Soundbuzz's High Fidelity Music Store offers songs from a range of Asian artists using the Scalable-to-Lossless (SLS) file format developed by Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A-STAR) and published as part of the MPEG4 standard in 2006.

The lossless files, which use a compression technology that recreates all of the data used to encode the song, are aimed at audiophiles who want better sound quality. Because of the amount of data required, lossless music files can be very large. Smaller files in MP3, AAC and other formats use lower-quality "lossy" compression, which recreates most of the data from the original input, but not all, in order to reduce the file size.


Mac users much more likely than PC users to pay for music - NPD
Apple's growing herd of Mac users are three times more likely to pay for and download music than their Windows PC-using counterparts, potentially serving as a harbinger for the further growth of digital music, according to a new consumer research study from NPD Group.


David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars
So what happens when online sales eliminate many of these expenses? Look at iTunes: $10 for a "CD" download reflects the cost savings of digital distribution, which seems fair — at first. It's certainly better for consumers. But after Apple takes its 30 percent, the royalty percentage is applied and the artist — surprise! — is no better off.

Where there was one, now there are six: Six possible music distribution models, ranging from one in which the artist is pretty much hands-off to one where the artist does nearly everything. Not surprisingly, the more involved the artist is, the more he or she can often make per unit sold. The totally DIY model is certainly not for everyone — but that's the point. Now there's choice.


Nonesuch Launches Download Store
Nonesuch Records is launching its own download store, designed to sell new releases from its artists directly to fans. The store allows fans to buy CDs online, and have the option of instantly downloading the full album digitally at no extra charge. Digital downloads will be free of DRM, and buyers can choose either 320 kbps or 128 kbps versions. There will be a $2 delivery fee for purchased CDs, which Nonesuch will waive if customers buy more than one CD.


Will investors go ga ga over Yangaroo?
Although the company has exclusive Canadian distribution agreements with the four major international music labels — EMI, BMG Canada, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada — as well as signed deals with the big players on the Canadian radio landscape such as Corus Entertainment Inc., Astral Media Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., Yangaroo has remained a relatively small player in the U.S. market since venturing there in 2005.


Music News: Independent and Unsigned Artists Distribute Music At New Music Website
New music website Boost Independent Music (www.boostindependentmusic.com ) has made a dramatic entrance onto the online music store stage, staking a bold claim to become the World’s Number One website selling downloads by independent and unsigned artists. Boost Independent Music launches with a 50/50 model, 69 cents downloads and a goal of being the go to place for indie and unsigned artists.


Neuros develops "Unlocked Media" brand for DRM-free stuff
Neuros has developed a name and logo for DRM-free media to allow companies to brand their products in such a way that consumers know they're getting a fully portable file. "Unlocked Media" might not be super catchy as far as names go, but we like the idea of a positive move that consumers and companies can latch onto; promote the benefits of DRM-free, rather than just decry the evils of copy protection. The branding is available to "any entity that uses media using open standard technology which is available to all on a non-discriminatory basis." Neuros hopes some independent third party will step in to manage the trademark.


Wal-Mart Year-End Report Card: C
This was the year that DRM stopped cramping online music stores, and that's in some part due to Wal-Mart's insistence selling DRM-free tunes. Together with Amazon, it's one of two major online retailers selling MP3 files. And while the MP3 store is still pretty lousy, Wal-Mart's push to have the last major-label holdouts drop DRM will be good for us all. If that happens, Wal-Mart's influence will at least have something to do with it.


Wading into Amazon's murky water
The company still is known primarily as a site to buy books, music and DVDs. Sales of media products accounted for nearly two-thirds of Amazon's sales in the first nine months of this year.

Still, Amazon is not forgetting its roots. In 2007, Amazon launched both MP3 Downloads, a downloadable music store, and the Kindle, a hardware e-book reader device with a built-in marketplace that lets people download books and magazine content.


Why Would Any Company Trust Microsoft Over DRM Ever Again?
It really was just last week, right, that Microsoft was last seen totally screwing over all those partners who had signed up to use its misnamed "PlaysForSure" DRM? Apparently, bygones are bygones and other companies have no problem stepping right up into Microsoft's embrace on a new DRM solution -- this time in the mobile space. Nokia is apparently agreeing to use Microsoft's mobile DRM offering dubbed "PlayReady" on a variety of Nokia devices. You would have thought that after the PlaysForSure debacle, Microsoft would avoid dubbing its DRM anything similar. Give it a few years and perhaps Microsoft will support some totally different DRM on its own phones (like it did with the Zune) and then we can ask again what Nokia was thinking.

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