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Apple Launching New Music Store Service
Associated Press | April 28, 2003

Posted on 04/28/2003 11:57:04 AM PDT by HAL9000

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- It's time to buy, mix, and burn, according to Apple Computer Inc. The Silicon Valley company that angered the recording industry with its "Rip. Mix. Burn" ad campaign has won the support of all five major record labels for its new Music Store service, which makes more than 200,000 songs available online at 99 cents a download.

The service announced Monday removes several limitations that have so far reduced legitimate online music distribution to a small niche in the entertainment industry.

For example, consumers can buy songs and keep them for as long as they want, share playlists on up to three Macintosh computers, and transfer them to any number of portable iPods so they can hear their music on the road. No subscriptions are necessary, and buyers can burn unlimited copies of the songs onto CDs.

"It's not free, but it's 99 cents a song, pretty doggone close," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said. "There's no legal alternative that's worth beans."

Also, a new, thinner and lighter version of the iPod will be available this Friday in the United States. It comes with 30 gigabytes, the largest storage capacity yet for the Apple device, enough to hold 7,500 songs.

Jobs has intensely courted music industry executives, who have been leery of digital music downloads, filing lawsuits and pushing for new laws to stem the illegal copying and distribution of copyright works. That wariness has hamstrung other online music distribution models, keeping most of the best new music offline.

In contrast, Music Store includes many more songs, Jobs said, with more to be added each day. They include music by U2, Eminem and 18 other artists who have previously not allowed any music downloads.

Artists and consumers have had real concerns about how music gets sold and played. "No one is being left behind" by this distribution model, said musician Alanis Morissette in a pre-taped video shown at the Apple news conference.

Initially, it only works on Macintosh computers, but by year's end, Apple plans to make it compatible with devices using the nearly ubiquitous Microsoft Windows platform -- as it did for its portable iPod music player. Then, the service could have mass appeal.

Even while the service remains limited to Macs, which comprise less than 3 percent of the desktop computing market, the segment is big enough for record labels to test a new business model for supplying music online, said Phil Leigh, a digital music analyst at research firm Raymond James & Associates.

"I think it'll change the world a little bit," Leigh said. "It'll be the first legitimate online music service that will have major brand recognition, and it's focused on portability and ease of use."

Until now, most music found online has not had the blessing of the major record labels. Millions of users are downloading free copies of songs through file-sharing services such as Kazaa -- services that the recording industry have sued in an effort to stem what they deem as revenue-robbing piracy.

The Recording Industry Association of America has sued four college students who allegedly offered more than 1 million recordings over the Internet, demanding damages of $150,000 per song. Music companies also are urging other big businesses to crack down on the downloading of songs using company computers.

But their efforts suffered a major blow Friday when a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled that Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc., the companies that distribute Grokster and Morpheus, aren't to blame for any illegal copying that their customers do using their file-sharing software. They've vowed to appeal.

Apple is entering a market that has yet to take off. Other providers of online music to paid subscribers have drawn only about 650,000 users, analysts estimate. Pressplay, a joint venture of Sony and Universal, charges a flat fee of $9.95 a month to listen to an unlimited number of songs from the major labels. Consumers who want to purchase songs to store on their hard drive or burn them onto a CD pay an extra fee of 98 cents per song.

Apple's latest efforts aren't limited to new music downloading. The company also has its sights set on Hollywood, and is promoting its products as a "digital hub" that consumers can use to play or edit movies as well as music.

The ability to make perfect copies of creative content makes entertainment industry executives nervous, but Jobs, who also runs Pixar, the animation studio behind such hits as the "Toy Story" movies and "Monsters, Inc.," has tried to bridge the divide between their world and that of the computer industry.



TOPICS: News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: apple; kaaza; macuser; morpheus; music; napster
Al Gore gets a nickle for every song downloaded. Nevertheless, it's a good deal and I'll be getting a lot of music here.
1 posted on 04/28/2003 11:57:04 AM PDT by HAL9000
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To: HAL9000
Look for The Beatles to file a lawsuit shortly.
2 posted on 04/28/2003 12:18:28 PM PDT by Phantom Lord (Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)
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To: HAL9000
LOL on algore. It will be interesting to see what the Beatles, do, however.

As for me...I NEED one of these new iPods. After my 17" Powerbook, tho.

3 posted on 04/28/2003 12:19:34 PM PDT by UlmoLordOfWaters
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To: Phantom Lord
The Beatles will definitely file a lawsuit if Apple buys Vivendi - but so far, they seem to be okay with this arrangement.
4 posted on 04/28/2003 12:59:34 PM PDT by HAL9000
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To: HAL9000
Initially, it only works on Macintosh computers, but by year's end, Apple plans to make it compatible with devices using the nearly ubiquitous Microsoft Windows platform -- as it did for its portable iPod music player. Then, the service could have mass appeal.

Hmmm.... something tells me it's not going to be in a format that's really "portable", like MP3.

5 posted on 04/28/2003 1:08:44 PM PDT by TechJunkYard (via Nancy)
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To: HAL9000
Hmmm. Maybe Apple got Al Gore to lean on the Beatles for them...
6 posted on 04/28/2003 1:11:07 PM PDT by Question_Assumptions
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To: lainie
Ping! You hear about this yet?

The iTunes Music Service files are 128 kbps AAC (reportedly better than 128 kbps MP3), with free previews, cover art, and "reliable downloads."...

As a compromise to help prevent piracy, you must change your playlist every 10 CD burns, and you may share the music with only three other Macs (you may modify the list of computers that the music may be shared with at any time). There was no word on the technology used to handle this DRM.

The iTunes playlist sharing allows sharing of playlists, and the streaming of music from one machine to the other, though copying is not supported ("that would be verboten," Jobs added).

Hmmm... there are two flavors of AAC: MPEG-2 amd MPEG-4. Have to assume Apple is going with MPEG-4. That'll mean a 3rd party player for Wintel and likely a foreign hack for Linux. There would have to be a download client to support the "playlist" DRM stuff.

It's a start.... but I think I'll pass.

7 posted on 04/28/2003 1:41:28 PM PDT by TechJunkYard (via Nancy)
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To: HAL9000
For this business model to succeed, the downloads must be dirt cheap (or perceived as such.) 99 cents? (Trying to fool us it's not a dollar!) No F way! 45RPM records succeeded because their cost was seen as negligible. Is a buck, adjusted for inflation, the same? I dunno. They're letting you download a computer file, for pete's sake! Their manufacturing cost? Close to nothing.
8 posted on 04/28/2003 1:48:13 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Subvert the conspiracy of inanimate objects!)
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To: HAL9000
What is the legal arrangement between Apple Records (the Beatles) and Apple Computers? I thought there was some agreement that Apple Computers couldn't be involved in audio distribution.

MD
9 posted on 04/28/2003 1:54:52 PM PDT by MikeD (Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!)
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To: Revolting cat!
From what I heard earlier, most of the 99 cents will go to the record companies, etc. I think 30-some-odd cents goes to Apple.
10 posted on 04/28/2003 1:58:11 PM PDT by savedbygrace
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To: MikeD
This was settled years ago to the tune of $30 mllion.
11 posted on 04/28/2003 7:06:19 PM PDT by targetpractice
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To: TechJunkYard
Gee I don't know what it is -- there's something about this risky scheme -- why does the ghost of DIVX seem to be haunting the windmills of my mind? :)
12 posted on 05/02/2003 11:26:11 AM PDT by lainie
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To: lainie
Yeah, I get what you mean. While it's not pay per play, you still can't do what you want to do with something you've bought... so what exactly did you just buy? At a buck per track?

Nonetheless, sales have been fantastic so far, so perhaps the labels will take a good look at this distribution model.

But Ogg Vorbis would have been a better format choice, in my opinion. At least it's portable. I can't help thinking that AAC was a compromise which was chosen more for it's DRM properties. Reminds me of Microsoft's copy-protected CD format that plays in a CD player OR a computer (as long as it's a Windows PC running WMP).

There's always a "catch" somewhere....

13 posted on 05/02/2003 2:03:46 PM PDT by TechJunkYard (via Nancy)
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To: TechJunkYard
I posted a bad link. Ode to Circuit City, proofread this time. But my timing being wrong, the moment is gone forever. Which we'll probably say about this ill-advised scheme later. It seems to me they're playing on peoples' general nature of wanting to "do the right thing," you know?
14 posted on 05/02/2003 2:22:49 PM PDT by lainie
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To: lainie
Or perhaps on the general nature of geeks wanting to be on the cutting edge of everything "cool".

I think Madonna said it best.

15 posted on 05/03/2003 8:16:51 AM PDT by TechJunkYard (via Nancy)
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