Posts Tagged with ‘drm-free’

Amazon today announced that its completely DRM-free catalog of MP3 downloads was expanded through the addition of Sony BMG music, which should be available to consumers by the end of the month.
With all four major music labels now on board, it looks like AmazonMP3 can now be considered a real threat to iTunes and its more limited variety of DRM-free music (over 3 million at AmazonMP3 compared to just 2 million at iTunes). “All four major labels will [...]

Unlike many retail giants of mostly brick-and-mortar, chain-linked proportions headquartered in the US, Amazon has shown a nice finish to 2007. The company, one of the largest of all online retail outlets, displayed a record number of sales this month – 5.4 million for the day of December 10th alone - effectively pushing the marketplace to a 13-year high, reported the London Times yesterday.
And there’s more. The mega-success, in tandem with the Warner Music Group, also revealed earlier this [...]

For several years now the digital-music-downloading world has been able to enjoy albums new and old purchased and transmitted via the Web. Millions of songs sit on Web servers, ready for purchase by consumers, and purchase they do. Over three billion songs have already been sold on Apple?s iTunes service alone. With all others such online outlets combined, the total number of downloads is no doubt many, many more.
But there is one particular catalogue of music albums that has [...]

I’ve heard continuously over the past few months of growing friction between Apple, its iTunes marketplace, and the major record companies. Yes, the one’s that have been selling their content through iTunes. And at quite a fast pace, as of late. (What is the count of tracks sold now? 3 billion? 3.5? 4? Somewhere in that area, I presume.)
And quite honestly, I’ve never really understood why they haven’t being playing very well together. I mean, sure, they’ve got their [...]

Confirmed: Apple has dropped iTunes Plus track prices to $0.99.
Word has it that Apple?s planning to cease its systematic gouging of its customers as far as music sales go. Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica claimed yesterday evening to receive advanced notice from a source close to Cupertino?s super-secretive avenue, Infinite Loop, that those buying single iTunes Plus tracks now (and the last hundred or so yesterdays) would soon find prices affixed to the online store?s DRM [...]

Today, BusinessWeek has reported that Universal Music Group, the largest record label in the world, is in the process of developing a digital music service that will compete with Apple's iTunes.
What seems most interesting about this news is the fact that Universal is trying to convince other major record labels to get on board. “Morris has already enlisted Sony BMG Music Entertainment as a potential partner and is talking to Warner Music Group .”
Total Music, as the service is [...]

Another piece for you today about media and pricing, this one a rebuttal to TechCrunch editor and proprietor Michael Arrington?s insistence that recorded music is heading toward an existence as a ?free? commodity.
Firstly, I must say I agree with several of Mr Arrington?s points, one being that DRM is headed on a downward spiral to eventual eradication, and another that CDs sales are plummeting as well.
But there?s a portion of his argument that I can?t possibly accept, which has to [...]

Amazon has released a beta of its long-awaited music download service. Does it stack up to the competition? (The competition being iTunes, of course.)
I wish I could say yes. I really do. I wish it were a worthy challenger to the juggernaut that is Apple’s online music store. But alas, it isn’t. By a long shot.
I won’t lie. AmazonMP3 has a number of perks going for it. All downloads from the service are less any DRM-protection, allowing one to [...]

Two stories concerning Universal Music emerged recently. One, an ongoing tale concerning the continuous threats of lawsuits level at Veoh by the media giant, which has in turn led a very peeved and exasperated Veoh to throw back a counter suit in which the video startup is seeking “a declaratory injunction to bar Universal from taking legal action” against the site. Another, making the rounds in the media just this morning, about the music group’s intention to “test the digital [...]