It's kinda like watching toddlers.
Jan. 28th, 2008 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackofallgeeksThere's a little bit of a buzz right now about QTrax and pending
agreements with recording companies to offer "unlimited free music
downloads." It's a nice sounding phrase until you look into the details: as
I understand it, the downloads are DRM'd so you can't burn them to CD, but
they're claiming to be portable, "unlike other similar services", so you can
put them on your portable music player. That'll be a feat, since DRM is
pretty much wholly opposed to portability. Right now, the only file formats
that play on any player are non-DRM'd, and every player has it's own favored
DRM format. They say that "portability" will be available at the end of
February, but iTunes support won't be here until late April. Until then, I
guess you can just play the files on your (Windows-only?) desktop. And
never mind that Apple hasn't licensed the iPod DRM format to anyone, so
either QTrax is trying to break precedent or they're making a work-around
that'll break at the next software update.
Anyways, none of that matters, really, since the DRM preventing you from
burning CDs will mean less and less as people get used to carrying iPods
(and similar), assuming they do pull through with portability like they're
promising. No, the real thorn is going to be how they're still trying to
make distribution profitable; that is, these music files will each carry
with them ads, and selling those adds is how the companies hope to make
money; from other industries if not from the consumer directly.
I don't think I really need to make much of a point for why ads won't work:
radio stations ALREADY try to minimize commercials to keep listeners
listening, and everyone TiVos through TV commercials. And that's really the
only two ways that ads can work on a music file: making it video or making
it audio.
Video right off won't work. They do apparently have a player which
commandeers your computer while the file is playing, allowing only a window
inside the player for surfing the net while the song plays. That is just
dumb, because no one uses their computer like a boombox; you put music on as
background while you do other things. If i can't have your music playing in
the background, I'm simply not going to use your player or your service.
Further, if the adds ARE visual, they'll mean less and less as people
transfer them to portable players which have no screen or, at best, a screen
you don't plan to be watching anyways. At best your files now eat up extra
batteries while playing ads I'm not watching.
The alternative, audio ads, is even worse. Imagine if everyone song on the
radio were followed by a commercial. You wouldn't listen to that station
very long, would you? Especially if there were ANY OTHER STATION which
would provide you continuous sets of music.
That other station is the winner, and that other station is going to be the
independent bands, the new guys and the guys who are willing to adapt to the
market. That other station is going to be bands using their music as
self-promotion and self-advertising, and making their money off of other
goods, like concert tickets, T-shirts, fanclub memberships and the like.
They're already out there, and even if they haven't gotten on top of things
just yet with a new business model, they're a step ahead of the big labels
already.
agreements with recording companies to offer "unlimited free music
downloads." It's a nice sounding phrase until you look into the details: as
I understand it, the downloads are DRM'd so you can't burn them to CD, but
they're claiming to be portable, "unlike other similar services", so you can
put them on your portable music player. That'll be a feat, since DRM is
pretty much wholly opposed to portability. Right now, the only file formats
that play on any player are non-DRM'd, and every player has it's own favored
DRM format. They say that "portability" will be available at the end of
February, but iTunes support won't be here until late April. Until then, I
guess you can just play the files on your (Windows-only?) desktop. And
never mind that Apple hasn't licensed the iPod DRM format to anyone, so
either QTrax is trying to break precedent or they're making a work-around
that'll break at the next software update.
Anyways, none of that matters, really, since the DRM preventing you from
burning CDs will mean less and less as people get used to carrying iPods
(and similar), assuming they do pull through with portability like they're
promising. No, the real thorn is going to be how they're still trying to
make distribution profitable; that is, these music files will each carry
with them ads, and selling those adds is how the companies hope to make
money; from other industries if not from the consumer directly.
I don't think I really need to make much of a point for why ads won't work:
radio stations ALREADY try to minimize commercials to keep listeners
listening, and everyone TiVos through TV commercials. And that's really the
only two ways that ads can work on a music file: making it video or making
it audio.
Video right off won't work. They do apparently have a player which
commandeers your computer while the file is playing, allowing only a window
inside the player for surfing the net while the song plays. That is just
dumb, because no one uses their computer like a boombox; you put music on as
background while you do other things. If i can't have your music playing in
the background, I'm simply not going to use your player or your service.
Further, if the adds ARE visual, they'll mean less and less as people
transfer them to portable players which have no screen or, at best, a screen
you don't plan to be watching anyways. At best your files now eat up extra
batteries while playing ads I'm not watching.
The alternative, audio ads, is even worse. Imagine if everyone song on the
radio were followed by a commercial. You wouldn't listen to that station
very long, would you? Especially if there were ANY OTHER STATION which
would provide you continuous sets of music.
That other station is the winner, and that other station is going to be the
independent bands, the new guys and the guys who are willing to adapt to the
market. That other station is going to be bands using their music as
self-promotion and self-advertising, and making their money off of other
goods, like concert tickets, T-shirts, fanclub memberships and the like.
They're already out there, and even if they haven't gotten on top of things
just yet with a new business model, they're a step ahead of the big labels
already.
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-28 08:37 pm (UTC)"Free" means it comes in the cereal box. "Free" does not mean "... with 23 proofs of purchase and $74.68 Shipping and Handling."
It doesn't add up.
As for paying through ads, I'd guess that's where the throttle that's not really a throttle comes in. You have two possible methods of download they could use - a client, or web-based. I'll assume you don't need an explanation of how web-based addresses the issue of needing ads(or throttles, for that matter). If it's client-based, well, you've already noted their lil' bit of elephantware they call a player. Seems a likely course of action, if you ask me.