MP3 Winners and Losers for 2003

An anonymous reader writes "Richard Menta over at MP3newswire.net just posted his annual winners and losers list in digital music for last year. The big winner is Apple for dominating MP3 portable player sales and the dramatic success of its iTunes service. Napster savior Roxio and the small independent record labels also made the winners list. The losers list include SonicBlue and MP3.com. Interestingly, Ogg Vorbis made the losers list, not because of the codec per se, but because iTunes has both catapulted the AAC format to number two and stimulated Microsoft to pour more of its efforts ($$$) into WMA and the iTunes clones, leaving little room left for the open source alternative. The 2001 and 2002 winners list are worth a look too and each have links to that year's losers list."

Re:Sorry, but anyone paying $300+ for a music play

[Anonymous Coward]

oddly enough so are people who sit at a web board and wait to make posts on new subject matter.

Re:ITMS is the true winner

[Kenja]

See to me, dealing with Quicktime for Windows or any Apple software on Windows is more of a PITA then going to the mall and buying a CD.

big losers

[Savatte]

In my opinion, anyone who downloaded Creed was a loser, not just for this year.

a surprising runner-up!!

[coronaride]

The best portable music device is the metal plate in my head! Too bad I only get the Fiesta music station... :(

Re:Sorry, but anyone paying $300+ for a music play

[Jippy_]

Wait.. You mean you can't afford $300.00 of disposable income to throw giddily at an MP3 player or other unnecessary item?

Right, and I'M the loser.

Don't feed the trolls!

[JoeLinux]

Great, just when we get the trolls content here, ANOTHER website stirs them up.

Ok, just so it's put down, please select your Ogg/Vorbis argument from the following menu:

1) Ogg/Vorbis is supported by (obscure mp3 player). Why should I get that (*drool*) new, affordable iPod?
2) Ogg/Vorbis can work in a DRM-based business model! Here is how: Step 1: Get five candles and a live goat.
3) Ogg/Vorbis is the best. Me and my four friends will not buy anything that won't support that. I'm sure Apple will be shaking in their boots from this ultimatum delivered from my parent's basement.
4) Hey! Why don't I just convert the mp3 collection to Ogg/Vorbis?
(Followed by: "Idiot: those are both lossy mediums."

Ok, I'm done.

Joe

In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see 'em.

Re:Not surprising that OGG was turn down.

[harlows_monkeys]

DRM is coming

DRM can be used with Ogg. Oops. There goes your whole argument.

OGG VORBIS

[molafson]

Just as every cassette left in a car for a fortnight is destined to turn into a 'Best Of Queen' album [loq12.at], every discussion of digital music on Slashdot must eventually become a polemic re: Ogg Vorbis.

Re:ITMS is the true winner

[ScrewMaster]

I just wanted to say that Napster and Gnutella have reinvented how I view music.

Now when I want a piece of music, I have it, and with my computer, my laptop, my MP3 player, my computer at work, and all my friend's and coworker's computers, I can listen to it wherever I go, with no worries!

Re:I have an iPod - In My Mind

[Junior J. Junior III]

Dear Slashdot Anonymous Coward,

You owe us for 7500+ song playback licenses. Also, cease and desist the use of your mind.

Thanks,

The RIAA legal team

NO!

[Stevyn]

No! Not wma! You're forever locked in! Any day now you'll get an error message saying your entire collection is lost. Or the horrid lossy compresion will degenerate to static noise. All I can say is hurry up and switch to Ogg Vorbis. Even if you have to buy another portable music player, it's worth not losing sleep over your music collection as I used to do before Ogg saved my life. And while you're at it, get rid of that windows crap and download linux.

Remember: choice, freedom, open source.

And if you disagree with me, you're contributing to the capitalist pigs profiting from something that should be given away for free that could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. I am an ogg user, and this is my manifesto.

Re:This Sound Like M$ Horseshit

[Anonymous Coward]

Just to make a point to all my friend and relatives, I had a Vorbis listening party this past Summer at my home. I told everyone to bring their favorite CDs and that I would rip their favorite track from the disc using MP3 and Vorbis. I did so at 64, 128, 256 and 384 k bitrates. We had a wonderful time conducting blind listening comparisons using both the AKG and Sennheiser cans as well as my Tannoy studio monitors, Yamaha stereo speakers and the Bose 901 series loudspeakers.

No, see, the expressions on their faces weren't indicative of them having a "wonderful time." That was them trying to somehow get out of their restraints, hoping the Scary Man who abducted them for his "listening party" wouldn't break out the power tools.

And I thought Kaczynski wasn't playing with a full deck.