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UK ISP Virgin Media and UMG announce “carrot and stick” music plans

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:40:20 +0000

I have a love-hate relationship with my Internet Service Provider (ISP) Virgin Media. I love the fact that they give me a fast and reliable fiber optic broadband connection (no copper running into this house), although I’m less keen on their peak time throttling policy. On the other hand, I hate their cozy relationship with the major records labels over the issue of illegal file sharing, whereby they appear to be more than willing to entertain the idea of disconnecting customers at the labels’ request if it’s claimed they are persistent offenders.

This week, Virgin talked up the latest phase of that cozy relationship, announcing a new unlimited music plan backed by Universal Music Group, and a firm commitment to “educate” file sharers through a temporary suspension of service.

The Carrot

The new service will offer unlimited, DRM-free music downloads, claimed to be a world first. And although pricing hasn’t been revealed, reports suggest the cost will be about the same as two albums per month, which I’d peg at between 10 and 15 pounds. So far only Universal is on-board, unsurprising as they have historically been the most keen on pushing subcription-based services — remember Total Music? — although Virgin is hopeful of the other three major labels and a number of independents signing up in time for the planned Christmas launch.

If the service is truly unlimited and DRM-free, though it’s hard to see how there won’t be some “fair use” restrictions (otherwise, what’s stopping a subscriber downloading all the tracks they want in the first month and then leaving?), then this is a pretty big deal, and marketed right, I can see parents adding the music plan to their already bulging cable bill. Whether or not it will appeal to illegal file sharers directly, however, will depend a lot on price, the size of Virgin’s music catalog, and what, if any, inconvenience if plastered on top. Which brings us to The Sick…

The Stick

Working with the music industry, Virgin says it will continue to “educate” its customers over the issue of illegal file sharing. Measures will include sending letters out to offenders and “as a last resort for persistent offenders, a temporary suspension of Internet access. No customers will be permanently disconnected and the process will not depend on network monitoring or interception of customer traffic by Virgin Media.” (The Register)

In other words, Virgin will continue to rely on the labels themselves or their third-party agents, to snoop on their customers. That’s a better PR position but in reality is still means the ISP is a willing accomplice. That said, with the UK government threatening to legislate if ISPs and the content industry can’t come to a voluntary agreement to fight piracy, this maybe the best we can hope for.

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Vodafone Music’s DRM-free move makes Apple and Nokia look bad

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:08:13 +0000

Vodafone, which currently operates music download stores in over 20 countries, is to become the latest company to jump on the DRM-free bandwagon, announcing this week that it will soon be transitioning its music catalog away from the copy-protected WMA format to standard MP3s. Additionally, customers will be able to covert their existing Vodafone purchases to DRM-free versions at no extra charge, unlike Apple’s current iTunes arrangement where users wishing to ‘upgrade’ are effectively asked to pay twice.

That’s the good news as far as Vodafone is concerned. The bad: only three of the four major record labels are on board – Universal Music Group, Sony Music and EMI – with Warner, for now at least, refusing to join in the fun, and the whole DRM-free deal only applies to a la carte downloads not Vodafone’s MusicStation all-you-can eat subscription service.

Although DRM-free music downloads via the PC are just about the norm these days, until recently the majority of ‘over-the-air’ mobile offerings still employed some form of copy-protection technology. How times are changing. AmazonMP3 was recently chosen as the default music store on the T-Mobile G1, the first device running the Google-led Android mobile operating system, and the e-tailer has a similar arrangement with Palm for its upcoming Pre smartphone. Meanwhile, in January Apple’s iTunes Store completed its lengthy transition to a DRM-free format, including adding 3G ‘over-the-air’ music downloads to the iPhone sans DRM.

Nokia missing in action

As a side note: all of this DRM-free love is making Nokia look decidedly out of touch. Just yesterday, the handset maker announced that its music download store and ambitious ‘Comes With Music’ (CwM) all-you-can-eat subscription service is rapidly expanding to include more countries and support on three new music-focused phones, yet both the Nokia Music Store and CwM heavily rely on DRM. Although copy-protection technology is probably a necessary evil for CwM, at the insistence of the major record labels who, along with Nokia, are nervously moving into very new territory, for a la carte downloads it just doesn’t make sense. Until the Nokia Music Store drops DRM, I suspect more tech-savvy customers will continue to shop elsewhere, even if that means putting up with the inconvenience of ’side-loading’ music to their phone via a PC.

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A year after launch, free music service Qtrax has all four majors but questions remain

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:29:21 +0000

Twelve months ago, free ad-supported music download service Qtrax launched in a blaze of controversy, most notably claiming it had support from all four major record labels, which was news to them. Qtrax is going after the holy grail of music, free and legal downloads, and so it wasn’t surprising that the company faced a licensing uphill battle. A year later and all the “t”s have been crossed and the “i”s dotted: EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and Universal Music are on board, reports AP, and a relaunch is planned for next month. However, a few questions remain.

At the original launch, Qtrax claimed that the service would support the iPod, which sounded like pie in the sky since Apple doesn’t license its copy-protection technology to third-parties, and the Qtrax proposition in heavily reliant on DRM. Users need to be connected to the Internet to authorize the tracks they play, as well as ‘phone home’ other data such as play count in order for the labels (and artists) to be compensated fairly from the pool of available ad revenue. The AP article makes mention of iPod support still being on the cards. Baloney.

Beyond iPods, Qtrax says that a large number of smartphones and mp3 players are supported — users can transfer downloaded tracks to said devices but they’ll need to re-sync them once a month in order to see advertisements and send back that crucial listening data. However, no where on the site can I find which mobile devices are compatible, aside from mentions of Windows Media DRM.

There’s also the question of whether Qtrax’s necessary but kludgy approach really has reached the holy grail as it introduces a level of inconvenience that may turn users away. Instead, ad-supported streaming services, with no download required, might have a better future. Especially as Internet access – even on the go – becomes increasingly ubiquitous.

And then there’s that advertising pot. Will it be bigger enough to satisfy the majors in the long term? Qtrax doesn’t feature audio ads but banners only, which I suspect won’t command a very high rate.

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“Just like your local record store”, Universal launches Lost Tunes

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:04:20 +0000

“Think of us as your small local record store, run by a team dedicated to helping you find the very best music”, reads the welcome page of Universal Music’s new music download store.

Launched first in the UK, with international versions of the site expected in the coming months, Lost Tunes is attempting to tap into a bygone era where music fans regularly scoped out local record stores looking for rare gems. “Lost Tunes comes with a secret stash of records you can’t find anywhere else online” the welcome blurb boasts. “Anywhere else online” being an indirect reference to Apple’s iTunes, hence Universal’s choice of name.

To that end, tracks are offered as mp3s, encoded at the higher bitrate of 320kpbs, and compatible with almost any digital music player, including iPods.

Lost Tunes’ catalog currently consists of 602 “handpicked albums”, of which 130 you won’t find offered as a download anywhere else. The initial batch of digital-download exclusives include The Walker Brothers’ ‘Live In Japan’, three albums by the hugely acclaimed Comsat Angels, Bill Fay’s eponymous album, UK blues Nine Below Zero, Mellow Candle and Oriental Sunshine, reports Distorted-Loop.

In my own exploration I delved straight into the Blues section to “discover” a few classic recording from Muddy Water’s pianist Otis Span. Nice.

And yet I didn’t make a purchase. Why?

Price.

At nearly £8 ($16) for an album, equal to CD prices, I hesitated long enough to exit “impulse buy” mode. Instinctively I want digital downloads to cost less than physical media, especially when cutting out the “middle person”, in the case of Lost Tunes. However exclusive those tracks might be.

If Universal wants to usher in a ‘new era’ in the sale of back catalog material, as the company claims, then lower the prices just a bit. Please.

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Wal-Mart ditches DRM at a cost

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:49:59 +0000

When Wal-Mart first starting selling DRM-free music through its online store, we had one major complaint. Alongside those iPod-friendly MP3s from EMI and Universal Music, sat copy-protected tracks from the two remaining major labels that were only compatible with PCs running Windows and supported PlayForSure devices. A sure way to confuse customers and create a very poor shopping experience, we concluded.

Along with a redesign of the Wal-Mart online music store, the “world’s largest retailer” has finally ditched DRM completely but at a cost. Rather than successfully negotiating licensing deals with the DRM-free holdouts – Sony BMG and Warner Music – Wal-Mart has sacrificed music from those two labels completely (tracks from Sony BMG’s Neil Diamond seem to be the exception, reports Wired).

So why has Wal-Mart relaunched its online music store – DRM-free – without waiting till it could offer music from all four major labels? As Insanely Great Mac notes, the retailer is likely holding out for much more favorable terms, and by relaunching early is calling Sony BMG and Warner’s bluff. The majors are renown for demanding very favorable terms, which often involve substantial upfront costs and/or equity. If you’ve ever wondered why iTunes doesn’t carry DRM-free tracks from all four major labels (yet), there lies your answer.

Aside from having a half full catalog, the new Wal-Mart online music store still suffers from another major demon: the site requires Windows Internet Explorer running on XP or Vista — no Mac or Linux customers allowed.

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