Mixing up music with Internet ( 2003-08-31 11:01) (Xinhua)
After five years of regarding one another with fear and contempt, the music
and technology industries are finally rolling out services that aim to make a
business out of downloading music.
Competing with free music services like Kazaa and Morpheus is not an enviable
position for anyone. But with the record industry suing individual users of
those services for copyright infringement, consumers will almost certainly be
looking for viable alternatives.
In the last four months, companies like Apple Computer Inc, Microsoft Corp,
RealNetworks Inc and BuyMusic.com, have struck licensing deals with the world's
largest record companies to begin offering alternatives that allow users to
download individual songs for around US$1 each.
The services all perform differently. You will be disappointed if you're
looking for the wide selection that the free services offer. Some sites are
easier to navigate than others. Unlike most conventional CDs, there are
limitations to how many times you can copy a song you've bought. And of course,
you have to pay.
"They've been designed around how the industry wants to sell music, rather
than how consumers want to buy it," says senior analyst Rebecca Jennings at
Forrester Research in London.
On the positive side, you can buy downloads of complete albums more cheaply
than buying the compact discs in stores. In most cases, the quality and speed of
downloads are more reliable - and you won't get sued for using them.
With much fanfare, Apple launched its pay-per-download tunes service in late
April. In its first month, it sold 3 million songs to a relatively small
community of Macintosh users in the United States, a tiny fraction of computer
users.
In recent months, BuyMusic, which was started by Buy.com founder Scott Blum,
presented itself as the iTunes equivalent for users of Microsoft Windows-based
computers. RealNetworks and Microsoft followed suit shortly thereafter. America
Online and Amazon.com are among those considering similar services.
ITunes, which is only available in the United States, offers a flat rate of
99-US cents-per-song, or US$9.99 for an entire album.
BuyMusic.com says it offers songs starting at 79 US cents each and US$7.95 an
album, but most songs are in the 99 US cent to US$1.14 range, and albums cost
US$9.49 to US$12.79.
RealNetworks' Rhapsody sells songs for 79 US cents, but only after a US$9.95
monthly subscription fee.
MSN Music Club, which is mainly available in Europe, is even more convoluted
in its pricing. Songs are essentially the equivalent of 83 pence to 99 pence
each - or about US$1.31 to US$1.56. Users cannot buy songs outright from the
service. Instead they must buy "credits" that can be redeemed for individual
songs. One song typically sells for 100 credits, but MSN sells the credits in
bundles of 150 and up. The more credits you buy the cheaper they are.
Although all sites offer hundreds of thousands of tracks, many early users
failed to find their favorite songs. Songs by The Beatles, for example, are not
available on any online service.
R.E.M.'s most popular songs like "Losing My Religion" or "Everybody Hurts"
are absent on BuyMusic, while MSN Music Club lacks almost all of David Bowie and
Earth, Wind & Fire. More recent albums appear to be better represented.
Big names like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Metallica, Green Day and
Linkin Park refuse to make their songs available as individual tracks. They want
consumers to buy entire albums.
Where the services often provide the most value is in hits by individual
artists by whom you wouldn't necessarily want complete albums. While BuyMusic
came up short on Petula Clark's "Downtown," users can find such gems like
"Everybody Plays The Fool" by The Main Ingredient and "Drift Away" by Dobie
Gray.
The availability of album sleeves for printing, artist information, album
release dates and the option to sample a song also differs widely between the
different services. ITunes offers artwork, while MSN Music Club and BuyMusic do
not.
MSN Music Club and BuyMusic often lack the option to sample tracks. MSN Music
Club and BuyMusic's artist information and original release dates are missing or
incorrect.
Finally, there are the limitations for customers. Songs from MSN Music Club
and BuyMusic can only be played back with Microsoft's Windows Media Player,
available on personal computers and built into some portable MP3 players.
Apple's iTunes only plays on its own devices, from computers to the portable
iPod music player. Rhapsody plays on RealNetwork's proprietary media player.
Apple has restricted consumers to make only three copies of a song, a line
followed by most other services, although BuyMusic sometimes allows unlimited
copying. Rhapsody allows consumers to burn songs on a CD, but copying onto a
portable music player is not permitted.
