Generally, it’s assumed that it’s better for a technology service to be a platform of some type. By platform, I mean a technology solution that provides a programming interface to allow other technology solutions to hook into. That’s the idea behind the current Facebook technical strategy, and it’s a common practice of many companies with…
Interestingly there is talk about a general music charge. Meaning, when you pay for Internet, you would also be pay an additional charge for downloading music. Think of it like a music tax – like on the phone – when you pay a carrier fee or something. And everyone would have to pay – anyone with…
It’s almost funny to me that Universal is moving into watermarking. We approached all the labels in late 2004 with watermarking as an alternate to DRM (which was really MS WM 9 at the time) and they shot it down. More accurately, they were open to it and liked it at first (except Sony who…
Not sure I agree with the assessment that Apple is a monopoly. While they might currently have the corner on the potable music player market, they hardly have an advantage in any other market. Additionally, their players are just interoperable enough by using the MP3 standard that I doubt they could really be considered anti-competitive.…
The DOJ just announced it opposes net-neutrality. As I see it, the two sides of the fence on net-neutrality are: 1. those who believe the Internet is now commerce driven and built (infrastructure wise) on the bottom line and 2. those who believe that the equality of access inherent in today’s Internet is more important than commerce.…
Apple just announced that you can now download tracks to the new iPod touch over wifi. I love it – for so many reasons. First, I love the idea of getting music over the air, untethered. To me that is pretty awesome. I love it that it ties into the desktop environment – which is still…
My last post was just a knee jerk. Now I have settled in on it and here is what I think: The assertion by Rick that we need to move to a subscription model assumes the centrlization of music. This is flawed, and even his own research suggests it – people don’t get their music…
Great article in the NY Times about Rick Rubin. He’s been hired to essentially save Columbia Records from extinction. Or at least huge losses. The theory is that if, as an ultra successful producer with lots of career reviving work, he can reviatilze Columbia, it will in turn revitalize the music industry. Here is the…
Riding the growing wave of DRM free licensing, Wal-Mart is starting to offer DRM-free MP3s for a la carte download. I love it and think it’s great. $.93 per download with 30 second auditions. Fairly straight forward, normal store front model – just like Wal-Mart. I think this is another sign of things to come for…
While software development is not yet fully a commodity, it’s sadly headed in that directoin. However, for a software driven company, a friend of mine once said – you just don’t want to outsource your heart. Of course, you can’t always do heart surgery, and also it’s very expensive; sometimes you have to have someone else…
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