Dec 7, 2007 | blog
I talked about this a little over a year ago. I was pretty gung-ho about URGE, the music service offered by MTV and Microsoft. It seamlessly integrated into Windows Media Player 11, could be used on up to 3 computers, and sync tunes to both my Windows Mobile smartphone, and my wife’s Nokia 5300 XpressMusic as well as other "Plays for Sure" WMA media devices.
At the time, things transpired that I didn’t "pull the trigger" on the service. Now I’m glad I didn’t. Real’s Rhapsody has absorbed URGE and all the reasons I was looking at the service have evaporated. The devices I would like to use are "possibly" supported, I have to install *another* media player, and I have to manually copy the music to the devices.
Too much bullshit.
I’ll stick with buying the actual, physical CD-ROM of the artist in question and ripping the audio tracks to lossless WMA. Disk space is cheap – 1TB for $100 – and I have been using Orb for some time to spread my digital media where I want it. I’ll continue to do so.
This is the kind of crap that online services are going to do to their customer base. I can’t use the service based on their offerings, I need a service that caters to my wants and needs. I’ll keep my cash and spend it directly on the artist in question.
Maybe you’ve already figured this out, maybe you’re content with the offerings and wonder why I can’t see the value in it. I can see the potential value in online music services, but it has to be on my terms – not theirs.
Nov 9, 2006 | blog
Om Malik has a great piece today over on GigaOM. He points out that Microsoft has fallen to the Mafia tactics of the music industry and will pay $1 for every Zune device to Universal Music Group (UMG). At one point, he wonders if this would have happened at Microsoft’s height of dominance.
In this battle of the monopolists, Microsoft blinked and decided to pay up. (Would this have happened a few years ago, when Microsoft ruled the technology planet?) Remember how Jobs stood up to these music industry bullies. Today they are asking $1 a device; what is to stop them from asking for say $10 or $20 per device down the road. This shakedown should result in a serious investigation into the music industry cartel.
The music industry has really lost its marbles, they do believe that their customers are crooks, they do believe that they are being cheated by “fair use”, they do believe that they should get a payment every time one of their songs is heard by anyone anywhere from any media source.
The sad fact is that these once-powerful media companies are crying like children who dropped their candy, and it is obscuring their ability to logically think and plan out a relevant business model in the “new media” world.
Link to GigaOM » Microsoft, Zune & The Music Mafia
Technorati tags: Music Mafia, Microsoft Zune, Universal Music Group
Oct 14, 2006 | blog
As I’ve pointed out before, I’m not a big music person, but… Since I’ve been playing with the generous trial of URGE, I’m sold on the service.
From here on, I’m a convert to the online music subscription point of view.
Oct 8, 2006 | blog
Since installing Vista RC1, I decided to check out URGE, the new online media service from MTV. Since I’ve always been an “I need to own the CD” kind of guy, this is a bit of a change. Also, I’m not a real big music person – that’s my wife though!
The recurring monthly charge makes me think a bit as well – again, mostly because I’m not into music in a big way. I like what I have, a few dozen CDs from my favorite groups so I have my favorite tunes. By the way, they’re called “oldies” now – I’m not that old am I? Guess that makes my dad’s Beach Boys and such “classics”; which sounds more, …well, classy – guess I can’t poke fun at dad’s oldies any more.
Anyway, being the frugal fellow I am (read: cheap), I signed up for the 14 day free trial.
I have to admit right now that I’m impressed. The full URGE library is available, along with numerous videos, many I haven’t seen in over a decade, and other great music-related info and services.
As far as price goes, I’m on the fence. Its $10/mo. and $15/mo. for the ability to sync every track to a MS-based media player. They’ve got annual fees that end up giving you a 2-month freebie. I’m going to look into a subscription – mainly because Amy would make huge use of it.
I’m warming to the idea of a subscription-based model for media consumption, as long as I can really use it without running into the DRM enforced walls. As I don’t intend to pirate the music, I’ll be disappointed to find the limits, unless MTV and MS have done their homework on this area.
Technorati tags: URGE, Windows Media Player, WMP11
Oct 6, 2006 | blog
I have to agree with Lucas, the future of all media will be as downloadable files or streaming media. The concept that any of us owns the music on a CD or movie on a DVD is of course incorrect.
We purchased a license to enjoy whatever recording, and according to fair use clauses in the license, can enjoy that media either in a traditional player or a digital player. Of course there is examples of media companies and the RIAA ridiculously going after their customers 
, and individuals engaging in media piracy 
.
Now the key to all this is a common “fair use” policy that allows us to enjoy any media in a venue we prefer, using a player or format that we choose. In return, we consumers need to agree that there is some type of accommodating digital rights management (DRM) technology to thwart piracy.
In the future, George is right on the money. Whether its a computer, wireless media player (Zune or future iPods), home media center, etc… we will likely not have to worry about where the movie/song is located, we’ll simply select it from a catalog of our preferred online media service and enjoy.
With a mass market, the scale of economies kicks in and for some reasonable charge per month, we’ll have access to huge volumes of recorded works. The differences in these online media services is their pricing, and the type and quality of value-added services they offer. That may simply be an extended library, or maybe conversion of a DVD to an old Beta videocassette that is mailed to you (who knows).
This will be the next generation of media enjoyment.
Neowin.net – George Lucas Sees Movie Downloading as the Future
