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Microsoft Media Music

Microsoft's Online Music Store 240

Posted by CmdrTaco from the sound-of-monopoly-expanding dept.
jamshedji noted a short story that talks about Microsoft's Online Music Store. The market is already getting quite crowded, so it will be interesting to see what affect the monopoly's entrance makes when this goes down in the 2nd half of this year.
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Microsoft's Online Music Store More

Microsoft's Online Music Store

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  • A two-for-one sale! (Score:4, Funny)

    by ChaoticChaos ( 603248 ) * <l3sr-v4cf&spamex,com> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:14AM (#8634189)
    Download a proprietary encoded song for 89 cents and get a WORM at no extra charge. ;-)

  • Give me a break (Score:3, Funny)

    by PurdueGraphicsMan ( 722107 ) * on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:14AM (#8634190) Homepage Journal
    Funny. When I think of what Microsoft's online music store would be like, I picture an extremely limited selection of music which consists of artists like Barry Manilow, America and William Shatner. I also picture most of the album art work being unavailable and replaced with a "No Picture Available" graphic that appears broken most of the time. Microsoft is so second rate.

    Picture a group of old ladies wearing sun visors trying to sell modern hand bags to teen age girls. It's just not going to happen.

    • Re:Give me a break (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:19AM (#8634239)
      I picture that Rolling Stone's song "You Cant Always Get Want You Want" being available in large numbers

    • Re:Give me a break (Score:4, Funny)

      by ultrabot ( 200914 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:23AM (#8634288)
      Funny. When I think of what Microsoft's online music store would be like, I picture an extremely limited selection of music which consists of artists like Barry Manilow, America and William Shatner.

      That's true. Even MSFT TV commercials are so yucku-tacky, you know, "we want your kid to be succesful and make lots of money".

      Microsoft is the polar opposite of anything "controversial", and art should thrive on a bit of controversial edge.

      This is in stark contrast with what *really* takes place at Microsoft: dark dungeons with decapitated penguins, Steve Ballmer banging Bill Gates with both of them wearing S/M leather, Masonic rituals empahisizing their desire to establish a New World Order based on oppression & greed, George Bush fundraisers, black-clas programmers baking soap from the fat of newborn babies...

    • Re:Give me a break (Score:2, Interesting)

      by baryon351 ( 626717 )
      Funny. When I think of what Microsoft's online music store would be like, I picture an extremely limited selection of music which consists of artists like Barry Manilow, America and William Shatner

      Knowing the intelligence of the average computer user and their "oh it's microsoft it must be good!" I also see an MS online music store as going to 80% of the market within months.

      Not that I'm cynical. really.

      • Not to mention... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by trezor ( 555230 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:47AM (#8634524) Homepage

        Not to mention the tight connection (via the kernel, or whatever) between:

        1. Windows Explorer
        2. Internet Explorer
        3. MSN Messenger
        4. Outlook
        5. Windows Media Player
        6. Misc. (Microsoft-owned) websites

        I have seen how this evil mess works together.

        Start MSIE, visit www.hotmail.com. Boom, without warning MSN-Messenger has been started.

        Start some mediafiles with Windows Media Player.. If you're lucky you might get a few IE-windows poping up, even though there are no errors. Don't even ask me how that's done.

        With Microsoft's ever interlinking between the operating system and applications, you can bet that anything mediarelated (opening a mp3 in Windows Explorer) will result in a chainreaction of MS-events.

        I imagine it will go somewhat like this:

        1. Doubleclick mp3-file in Windows Explorer
        2. File opens in WMP, telling you that "this file isn't protected. You will want a protected file on your computer. Otherwise your computer and data ain't safe no more."
        3. WMP opens MSIE @ MS-musicshop.
        4. Any further attempts in accessing the mp3 folder will be accompanied by constant nagging about the wonders of buying your music from Microsoft.

        Ofcourse any mentioning of MP3s in mail or messenger will result in a similar list as that one above.

        I'm not saying it'll be a good product, but I expect it to do remarkably well.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:27AM (#8634331)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Really? Hmm, well... I see half the net switching over to the MS store, like almost everything else MS makes.

        I'm not sure that this is necessarily true. The world uses Windows because that's what they've always used. The world uses MS Office because that's what they've always used. I don't think the general public views MS's products as good, I just think that they really believe that that's their only option. It's different with the music store business. Microsoft wasn't the first software developer to

    • Re:Give me a break (Score:2, Insightful)

      by VividU ( 175339 )
      Your post is "insightfull" for a number of reasons but mostly it's a testament to the power of Apple marketing.

      You say "Microsoft is so second rate". I recall seeing plenty of similar posts when the Xbox was announced. Most of a postings on Slashdot were about as wrong as it gets then and, I suspect, will be just as wrong now.
      • But I cannot help but point out...

        You say "Microsoft is so second rate". I recall seeing plenty of similar posts when the Xbox was announced

        Xbox is in 2nd place, in console sales.

        I'm not sayin'... I'm just sayin'.

      • Your post is "insightfull" for a number of reasons but mostly it's a testament to the power of Apple marketing.

        Actually I think it's more of a testament to the lack of power in Microsoft's advertising. They're very bland in terms of public image. They don't look like Media giants. They look like a boring software company that cranks out the ideas of others and makes a profit. They don't care much about their public image (at least it doesn't appear that they do).

  • In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jwthompson2 ( 749521 ) * on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:14AM (#8634192) Homepage
    Microsoft's innovation and originality has just hit an all time low....

  • LOL (Score:5, Funny)

    by Solar Limb ( 673519 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:16AM (#8634210)
    Next thing you know, they'll come out with some huge, bloated, over-featured music player!

    Wait.

  • I have one question... (Score:5, Funny)

    by xcham ( 200708 ) * on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:16AM (#8634214)
    Is "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones up for download? That'd bring the whole MS circle of crap to a sort of cosmic finality. :)

  • Compatibility with industry standards (Score:5, Interesting)

    by weave ( 48069 ) * on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:18AM (#8634225) Journal
    It's a shame Microsoft has chosen for it to not be compatible with the #1 portable player [apple.com] or #1 music download service [itunes.com].

    Microsoft should abandon that proprietary audio/video format they are clinging to and just go along with what the consumers have picked to be the defacto standard.

    Sucks, doesn't it Microsoft?

    • OMFG (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      So you're saying Microsoft should just "go along with the defacto standard"? Except for maybe portable players, isn't Microsoft THE defacto standard? Perhaps you could just tell Apple to ditch their platform and go with the defacto standard.

      Stupid argument, particularly because a) choice and competition is good, and b) you Mac users will bitch and moan about the Microsoft monopoly, but when someone suggests Apple should be the only provider of something it's +5 Insightful. WTF.

      • Re:OMFG (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Felinoid ( 16872 )
        isn't Microsoft THE defacto standard?
        That is part of the problem.

        Microsoft usually dosn't offer alternitives but instead breaks the existing standards on Windows.
        Most people only get to see Java, HTML etc etc etc from Windows so develupers have no choice but to folow Microsofts standards instead of the W3 specs and Sun Java specs.

        When ever someone complains about Microsoft not folowing the standards they say "(Insert Microsoft Product) IS the defacto standard".

        Only now it's an Apple Product.. the iPod.
        N
    • well netscape navigator at one time was the defacto standard picked by consumers. ms didn't go along then and they did allright.
    • The only problem is that the moment Microsoft drops their format and accepts what consumers want, you know they'll become the #1 target of the RIAA. They're smarter than that.

      I just wish that they would use the billions of dollars at their disposal to at least try to end the digital rights insanity. The only reason they picked it up in the first place was to keep the money hogs in Hollywood happy.
      • Well it would never even get that far. Any online music service that wants to distribute mainstream (non-indy) music would have to negotiate with members of the RIAA in order to get the right to distribute the content. The RIAA members disallow non-DRM formats right from the start.
    • Please. Your second statement applies just as well to Apple.

      "iTunes should abandon that proprietary audio/video format they are clinging to and just go along with what the consumers have picked to be the defacto standard."
      • "iTunes should abandon that proprietary audio/video format they are clinging to and just go along with what the consumers have picked to be the defacto standard."

        Proprietary? You mean that Dolby codec?

        How is that worse than Fraunhofer's codec?

      • Your second statement applies just as well to Apple. Yeah, I know. It was a subtle attempt at poking fun at Microsoft's previous criticisms of Apple not following "standards."
      • It does apply to Apple. The iPod and iTunes play the defacto standards, mp3 and aac, as well as CDs.

    • Re:Compatibility with industry standards (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Richthofen80 ( 412488 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:41AM (#8634464) Homepage
      yeah, you know, if microsoft had added support, you'd knock them for 'embrace and extend', and since they don't , you knock them for that too.

      Apple 's Itunes isn't compatible with 50% of the market of MP3 players. Where's the outcry there?
    • >just go along with what the consumers have picked to be the defacto standard.

      Who picked Apple to be the defacto standard??!?!

      You do know that the largest portable music format is CD?

      And where does the iPod read CDs directly? (No ripping it doesn't count because then it doesn't really matter if its wma or mp3 or ogg).
    • There is only one portable player that plays Apple's AAC files. Windows Media can be played by just about every other mp3 player out there, not to mention DVD players and other home audio equipment. Who's being more proprietary, MS or Apple?

      I imagine that increased competition in online music vendors will lead to Apple's next version of AAC licensing will be more appealing to hardware makers, or Apple will remain in the #1 slot long enough that hardware makers will get around to licensing it anyway.
    • It's a shame Microsoft has chosen for it to not be compatible with the #1 portable player or #1 music download service.

      Starting a new business is about the future vision, not the present reality. Who cares what today's "#1 portable player" or "#1 music download service" is ? What matters is tomorrow's #1.
    • Everything you say is true. However, when you combine the also rans, their marketshare for portible media players is GREATER than apples. SO they are creating a format that the MAJORITY of players CAN play.

  • Microsoft's Theory of Success (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Davak ( 526912 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:18AM (#8634234) Homepage

    "We have enough money to do something cheaper and longer than you."

    Then, they wait and wait... until the market folds... and they are still on top. Who knows if it works or not, but that's their plan.

    I use Microsoft everyday... but that part of Microsoft makes my stomach turn.

    (See also XBOX)

    Davak

    • Re:Microsoft's Theory of Success (Score:4, Insightful)

      by MagicDude ( 727944 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:32AM (#8634384)
      It does work in theory. That's how Standard Oil used to work. They'd move in next door to a smaller refinery, sell their kerosene for cheaper (sometimes at a loss even) so that the other business went under. Then they'd offer the owner of the small refinery two options - sell the company in exchange for stock in standard oil, or try and stick it out and eventually be crushed. This new service will get a share of the market, and it will stick it to other services like itunes and netscape by doing so. In addition, if they can successfully integrate the service into windows, they can get a whole other group of less tech savy people into music downloading if windows makes it easy to do so.
    • I use Microsoft everyday

      in Soviet Russia, Microsoft uses you!

      oh wait....isnt that...

      nevermind.

  • The consumer wins! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by eBayDoug ( 764290 ) <doug@pioutsource.com> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:19AM (#8634247) Homepage Journal
    As aspiring giants battle for marketshare, soon songs will be 29 cents each.
    • But only until the one who comes out on top completely dominates, and then they raise the prices again-- after it's impossible for a competitor to enter or retake the market because of all the legal spiderwebs and the costs involved.

    • That's how it works in a free market... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by blorg ( 726186 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:00AM (#8634720)
      ...But unfotunately the RIAA record companies are not working in a free market, but are a cartel successfully sued [usatoday.com] for conspiring to fix prices. All the music stores are pricing around $1/song, and it's common knowledge that the stores, such as iTunes, aren't making any money [com.com] at that price. So I wouldn't hold out for further discounts.

  • Won't be popular with the EU commission (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gilesjuk ( 604902 ) <giles.jones@nospaM.zen.co.uk> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:19AM (#8634248)
    They're already considering forcing Microsoft to remove media player, open some source as well as fining them.

    If there's a bandwagon moving Microsoft have to jump on it.

  • Loss leader for MS (Score:4, Insightful)

    by wedding ( 618458 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:20AM (#8634252)
    Apple admits readily that they don't make any money off the ITMS, but use it to try and sell iPods. If MS is singing the same song (weak pun, I know,) then what are they trying to sell?

    They already have WMA pimps, and will have a hell of a time competing for selection since they have to stay mainstream to have their name on it. The MS iPod killer? What a joke.

    This is one of those cases when MS should have just walked away. Let the other guys handle the store and drive users to your products. There's nothing to be gained.

  • MS content tends to be unispired and dull ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CresentCityRon ( 2570 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:20AM (#8634253)
    ... just look at MSN! (On second thought just trust me on that one.) Even the most non technical people I know find MS sponsered content boring at best and insulting at worse. I don't think people are going to flock to this site with no "street cred".

    The only value this site has is it might bleed some cash from MS that would otherwise go to funding SCO. :)

  • Will you own the songs??? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by millahtime ( 710421 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:20AM (#8634255) Homepage Journal
    I wonder if the M$ service will be like the others using their format.... That shortly after you cancel the service all the songs will stop working??? Can they actually get a license deal like apple?? If not is it even worth considering.
    • Somehow, I don't see an MS-sponsored service allowing you to keep rights to the song you've downloaded. If there's one company that is really buddy-buddy with the recording industry right now, it's Microsoft, and the RIAA wants people to pay as frequently as possible. They don't seem to believe in "lifetime licensing" anymore.

    • Re:Will you own the songs??? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dsoltesz ( 563978 ) * <deborah.soltesz@gmail.com> on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:00AM (#8634721) Homepage Journal
      I'm really fuzzy on the details, but M$ did the digital music thing before (three or four years back?)... I think the original site had been their Active Desktop page, then it morphed into some kind of media site. Just out of curiousity, I bought a couple songs. The service disappeared, and the songs became unplayable because the player wanted to go to the site and check my license... and the license server no longer exists.

      This, and a couple other similar experiences, is why I am adamantly against DRM. I am not willing to buy any product that depends on the existence of the company/service I bought it from, is tied to a particular computer/harddrive/etc., or puts drastic limits on my use of the product (such as limiting the number of burns, requiring me to be connected to the 'net, etc.)

  • can they take on Apple? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BobTheLawyer ( 692026 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:21AM (#8634261)
    The story has the MS spokesperson saying "Microsoft has not decided whether to extend its song portability to non-Windows Media devices."

    If MS want to take on Apple, wouldn't it be insane for them not to offer MP3s as well? Why would they cripple the service by restricting it to WMVs?

    • ...because WMV works just fine for Barry Mannilow, America and William Shatner.

    • The question is why did Apple choose to use a format that only works on their platform, and the answer is quite simple: lock-in. WMA is supported by a variety of devices that are not Apple's.
      • What format would you have suggested Apple use? The RIAA would never let them go sans-DRM, so vanilla MP3's are out. Since Apple would have to tack on some DRM, backwards compatibility with all the existing stuff out there becomes an non-issue, because there isn't any standard DRM format yet. So Apple chooses AAC, which is an open standard, and which most people would agree is better quality in general than MP3. They stick some DRM on it, and there ya go.

        What else would they use? WMA? And just give MS that

    • My take on WMV (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:55AM (#8634660) Journal
      Well, this could be wrong, but it's one guess on Microsoft's media strategy.

      Microsoft's most profitable and popular two products -- Office and Windows -- primarily rely on a single mechanism to ensure their continued dominance. IE probably uses this as at least a secondary mechanism, and the X-Box uses it as well.

      The idea is to ensure that third-party-produced content is produced in a form that is only useful to someone that purchases a Microsoft product, jump-start an industry producing content for that product, and then erect as many barriers as possible to anyone attempting to produce a compatible, competing product. They then enjoy a profitable feedback loop as *more* third parties are forced more and more to produce content for their system. Since their product *is* the standard (bugs and all), 100% compatibility is not likely to happen, and can be avoided by making their product a moving target when necessary.

      In the case of Windows, it's Windows applications. Windows is the Microsoft-produced tool that allows the consumer to deal with Windows applications. Because Windows is around, everyone develops for Windows, and because everyone develops for Windows, it's difficult to move to anything else, even in the case of poor product quality and pricing issues that are complained about today.

      In the case of MSIE, it's HTML/CSS/etc.

      In the case of Office, it's Office documents.

      In the case of the X-Box, it's games for the X-Box.

      In the case of Media Player, it is content in the Windows Media file format.

  • Is it me or (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Fisher99 ( 580290 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:21AM (#8634265)
    is M$ trying to rule the world or should I say the general consumer world market? What's next M$ food products; just imagine the vir.... Yes I'm bitching, so does the world.

  • Surprised it took so long (Score:3, Insightful)

    by radionotme ( 742163 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:22AM (#8634277)
    I thought MS would have been quicker than this - after all mycokemusic and others have been using MS's wma format to do this for a while already. However, since all new PC's will probably have a desktop shortcut to the site under 'download music here' (or some similar title) then MS will give themselves a legup over the competition.

  • they probably will see good results (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pauly_thumbs ( 416028 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:23AM (#8634279)
    i think the slashbots would be amazed as to how many people rely on MSN for everything - just like I rely on google for everything - sure, I think to myself WTF?? but changing the homepage for the average user is not an option.

    case in point - i recently put an ad out for a car that i was selling - a 67 camaro - the car has been sold and the AD has been deleted - i am still getting queries on the car from people who are using MSN's proxy or dns servers - I get about 1-2 call/emails a day -

    what i am trying to say is that even though prior to deleting the Ad I put SOLD SOLD SOLD in description space - still i get inquiries - so here is the morale of the story.

    People don't read descriptions they only point and click at what they think is pretty

    and

    People take what is presented to them as reality - if there is an Ad then the car must still be for sale - regarless of whether or not it is sold.

    Hence, if people see 99 cent songs on their hompage they will not consider who is selling them - only slashdotters seem to do this - they will only see that the song is .99 and they will buy and buy in droves.

    i have no .sig
    • "people rely on MSN for everything"

      More people rely on AOL for everything and AOL is going with Apple. Don't forget about the HP deal so it will be right on the desktop. M$ might fidn it harder than they think.

      You are right to think they will probubally have success though. If they use the WMV format and only do licensing where you have to keep the service (like all the other WMV vendors have done) then that will be a way to lock their customers in too.
    • I agree with you totally, and I think there's extensive proof even beyond the services like MSN that this is the case. Windows XP itself is a good example; some of the key reasons many people bought it was just because of the colorful buttons and "updated" user interface.

      Now, I have long since changed my opinion of XP and do believe it to be a significant improvement over 2000 in terms of compatibility and some optimizations, but the point is that these people that I knew weren't buying it for that reaso

  • So what's the over under on: (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stomv ( 80392 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:24AM (#8634293) Homepage
    * Ratio of (Songs available on MS)/(Songs available on iTunes)?
    * Time until MS intertwines their store with their desktop?
    * Time until Blumenthal of CT goes after them?
    * Time until an EU commish goes after them?
    * This whole brainfart of theirs joins Bob in the graveyard?
  • I wonder if M$ will integrate this too into the operating system? They probubally will. Apple already has it come with their OS so M$ won't be doing something new. I wonder if there will be a way to remove it though (unlike IE). HP is already going with ITunes so I would hope they remove the M$ one.

    My money says it'll be integrated into the first service pack release after it's release and there won't be a way to remove it.

    • Re:Integration (Score:3, Funny)

      by tbone1 ( 309237 )
      Apple already has it come with their OS so M$ won't be doing something new.

      The difference is, I can delete iTunes from OS X with a drag-and-drop with little-to-no kvetching from the operating system. Methinks it will be a bit different on the MicroSoft side. There's a fine line between pessimism and empiricism.

  • More Competition (Score:5, Insightful)

    by screwballicus ( 313964 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:25AM (#8634307)
    Hopefully, increased competition in a saturated market will mean an increased willingness to bulk out music selection with more obscure or unsigned artists by at least some online vendors.

    One worry, however, is that increased competition does not necessarily mean more money for existing artists. It may just mean, as usual, more extreme attempts to woo the big record companies who own them.

  • Normal business behavior (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mystery_bowler ( 472698 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:25AM (#8634311) Homepage
    iTunes hits it big and suddenly the market is flooded with competitors. That's the way it happens. Ultima Online started making a mint and along came Everquest, Dark Ages of Camelot, etc. Nirvana hit the big time and suddenly there was a "Seattle" sound.

    After a couple of years only a few players will remain. The rest will either have collapsed, merged or been bought by other competitors.

    I will say that I'm surprised that Microsoft is getting into this game now, though. But getting into the console field seemed pretty alien so I suppose nothing is too far-fetched.

    What I'm waiting on is a content provider model where one of the big companies - let's say Apple - with access to a huge library of material allows you to create your own mini-store. Sort of like Cafe Press, I suppose. You can populate your store with anything from the massive database (although most will be specialty stores selling particular genres of music). I'm not exactly sure how you could put the proper intellectual property protections on it, but it would really be great if the store "owner" could then upload material (local bands, amateur work, etc) to sell in the store.

  • Redmond says "Me Too"... (Score:5, Funny)

    by blcamp ( 211756 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:26AM (#8634325) Homepage

    Pathetic.

    Wasn't it a few short years ago that MS complained about the government taking away their "freedom to innovate"?

    Now it seems the marketplace is running circles around Gates and Co.

    Perhaps Ballmer needs to run around in circles too... this time screaming "Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality! Originality!"

  • Grammar (Score:5, Funny)

    by MacEnvy ( 549188 ) <jbocinski@@@bocinski...com> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:27AM (#8634332) Journal
    It will be even more interesting to see the effect of the monopoly's entrance. And how that will affect the rest of the market. /stickler
  • until Linus starts his own open source Linux-based online music store, that works with an open-source-design hard-drive music player even better than all the other stuff out there.

    will it run linux? you betcha!
    will it be beowulf-clusterable? definitely!

    Eat your hearts out Bill and Steve.
    • Will it have really obscure commands that require a keyboard? you better believe!
      Will you have to buy the 100lb manual seperately? Oh baby!
    • There are already several open-source players out there, although not necessarily portable ones. It won't be long, though.

      The only thing I've yet to see is an "open-source" music store which would, inherently, be very indie-label friendly. That's not to say that I haven't seen online indie-music stores, but they only come in small clusters and have limited selection; I haven't seen a single indie store with decent backing and publicity.

      This is, in theory, what groups like my own are trying to promote.
  • "We are absolutely going to be striving for a large catalogue of music, but we have no specific numbers to confirm," Gurry said in an interview.

    It seems their music catalog is going to consist largely of "blues" and "death metal" music.

  • Must Have Hit Someone's Tickler (Score:5, Insightful)

    by theManInTheYellowHat ( 451261 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:35AM (#8634419)
    I sware it seems just like when you are talking to some salesman who tells you " I will call you back {insert duration here} from now to see how you are doing" and sure as shit that long from now to the minute you get a call from them.

    Microsoft must have the timer on 1 year and they set it for any emerging product that looks trendy. If that product is doing well when the tickler goes off then low and behold here is the Microsoft product.
    • I'd agree ...

      And it's interesting to see, at about that time, the iTunes Music Store will have international compatibility - Microsoft will most likely have the same blitz behind it that they recently tried to have with the "mini media box" they plan to have.

      Most likely they'll claim - "First online music store that's compatible everywhere - Microsoft we're what you need"

      Then they will probably try to integrate it into Longhorn - whereas Apple has it integrated into a program you don't have to use.

      It wo

  • The madness of crowds (Score:5, Interesting)

    by agslashdot ( 574098 ) <sundararaman.krishnanNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:40AM (#8634457)
    1600s - Tulip mania
    1920s - Florida real estate boom
    1959-62 - "tronics" boom
    2000s - xml,b2b, the internet bubble
    2003-4 - the music bubble

    "There was a time when every oil company went out and bought a fertilizer company, for no good reason. It was as if what was good for Standard Oil was good for Exxon, and so soon all the fertilizer companies were gobbled up" - Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet's right hand man in Berkshire Hathaway.

    Why should everybody start selling music all of a sudden ? Napster started it, then Apple did it far better, then Real Networks jumped in, then that great equalizer of America - Walmart, now the ultimate monopoly - Microsoft. What do all these tech companies have to do with music ? Perhaps nothing, but then oil giants did't exactly mix with fertilizer either. Such is the madness of crowds.

    • correction (Score:5, Insightful)

      by quacking duck ( 607555 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @12:46PM (#8635906)
      Napster started it, then Apple did it far better, then Real Networks jumped in

      Napster did not start the online music store craze. If we're talking actual online stores (as opposed to subscription services), Apple was the first. All subsequent ones, including Napster, Musicmatch, etc, have been pale imitators.

  • I wonder... (Score:4, Funny)

    by leomekenkamp ( 566309 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:40AM (#8634458)
    I wonder if they will feature this [gnu.org] wond'rous piece of melody and rhyme.

  • MS vs. Apple (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tobes ( 302057 ) <tobypadilla@gmail.cTEAom minus caffeine> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:43AM (#8634487) Homepage
    It will be interesting to see how MS fares against Apple in this market. It's all pretty much going to come down to execution. While MS has a history of out executing Apple in the business arena, I really don't think they can touch them when it comes to something more "artistic" like music.

    One thing Microsoft could do (and I hope they do), is pay a commission to affiliates that make sales through their store. It would be nice if they opened it up with WebServices, and acted more as a music supply platform than the itms. Of course as long as they stick with wma they're pretty much out of the game.

    • Re:MS vs. Apple (Score:3, Insightful)

      by The Lynxpro ( 657990 )
      "One thing Microsoft could do (and I hope they do), is pay a commission to affiliates that make sales through their store. It would be nice if they opened it up with WebServices, and acted more as a music supply platform than the itms. Of course as long as they stick with wma they're pretty much out of the game."

      No they couldn't. You don't think Apple wouldn't do that too? The reason why Apple isn't paying a commission is because they aren't making any profit off the individual songs as it is. To do tha

  • Next version of Windows... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Pollux ( 102520 ) <speter@@@tedata...net...eg> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:44AM (#8634495) Journal
    Gurry also declined to say whether Microsoft's music store would be bundled into Windows or featured on its Windows Media playback software.

    Well duh, he doesn't have to say it. Of course they're gonna advertise it for all it's worth.

    If I was a dumb joe sixpak who just bought a new computer, and there's an icon on the desktop saying "Click here to receive free music from Microsoft MSTunes," then of course I'm gonna click on it.

    You're going to open the next version of Media Player and find out that there will be a button to download music from MSTunes, sign up for a free trial of MSTunes, hear the latest and greatest hits, exclusively released on MSTunes, watch a pop concert live, exclusively for MSTunes customers, open up IE and find advertisements litering the MSN homepage advertising free music if you sign up for MSTunes, open up MSWord and have a chance to insert sound files into your documents (for whatever reason), exclusively from MSTunes...

    They did it with MSN. They did it with IE. They did it with Media Player. Why ask if they're going to do it with their Tunes site?

    • Re:Next version of Windows... (Score:5, Funny)

      by afvdk ( 529282 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:04AM (#8634753) Homepage
      MS in front of the Judge:

      Oh no your honor, the MSTunes is tightly integrated into the OS. We cannot remove it.

    • They did it with MSN. They did it with IE. They did it with Media Player. Why ask if they're going to do it with their Tunes site?

      They managed to beat Apple last time they faced off against the Apple flagship product in the OS market. What makes people think that *this* time Apple is going to win?

      I mean, not that I want Microsoft to do well, but honestly, Apple is currently smaller relative to MS than they were during the OS War, doesn't have a desktop monopoly to leverage (sure, they're clearly in the

  • Lawyer's already on the move (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jkabbe ( 631234 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:49AM (#8634554)
    I bet Napster, MusicMatch, etc... are already getting their lawyers warmed up for this.

    It's pretty easy to explain that a media player is an integral part of the OS. But if Microsoft actually tries to embed their store inside WMP instead of having it on the web in MSN.com and/or on their MSN service, I think they're going to run afoul of the Sherman Act in a serious way.

    • Re:Lawyer's already on the move (Score:4, Insightful)

      by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:21AM (#8634941) Journal
      "Your honor, we *need* to embed our store in Windows Media Player to coninue to innovate!"

      For crying out loud, Microsoft (admittedly, with the fortuitous help of Bush winning office before penalties were imposed on them by Reno) has already managed to get by regulators with a *Web browser* tied to their file manager and with a built-in misspelling/keyword system that forces you to Microsoft's MSN search engine (and the associated profitable ads) already. If that isn't precedent enough for a judge to let this by, I don't know what is.
    • "I bet Napster, MusicMatch, etc... are already getting their lawyers warmed up for this."

      Well, its all those company's faults for ever even tinkering with a Microsoft-controlled media file format that made them dependent upon them. I can already foresee that those two will be switching to Sony's proprietary format to be unveiled later this year. That is, unless Apple gets wise and simply buys out Roxio. Toast6 definitely belongs in OS X 10.4 - and eliminating an iTunes competitor (Napster is Roxio) in t
  • 1.) To probably come up with their own song encryption scheme. Then make it incompatible with everyone else's especially APPLE.

    2.) To market the hell out of online music store.

    If all else fails I got a feeling M$ will release their own kazaa wanna be P2P software so that everyone gets everything free, and M$ will still win.

  • Obligatory post . (Score:4, Funny)

    by CdBee ( 742846 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:05AM (#8634767)
    I won't do it until they offer .OGG files! Well, someone had to say it.. now move along...

  • Affect, effect, this is why we need editors (Score:3, Informative)

    by Dr. Zowie ( 109983 ) <slashdot.deforest@org> on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:05AM (#8634772)
    For cryin' out loud, I doubt that the music store will have much affect, as suggested by the poster -- after all, it's not a person and therefore doesn't have moods.

    It will almost certainly have an "effect" -- that is, it will affect the market.

    Am I the only slashdot reader who rankles at our editors' lack of good English? Ferchrissakes, folks, read Strunk and White [bartleby.com] -- it's online these days.

    • Re:Affect, effect, this is why we need editors (Score:4, Informative)

      by slamb ( 119285 ) * on Monday March 22, 2004 @12:50PM (#8635954) Homepage
      Am I the only slashdot reader who rankles at our editors' lack of good English?

      It bugs me, too. I saw this one in the subscriber-only preview, but I did not point it out to them because the idea of paying to be a proof-reader does not sit well with me. So I'd rather publically mock them later.

      Ferchrissakes, folks, read Strunk and White -- it's online these days.

      I hate that guide. They should have followed their own rules, particularly "Omit needless words". Look at this paragraph:

      In general, however, it is best, in writing, to avoid using
      so in this manner; there is danger that the writer who uses it at all may use it too often. A simple correction, usually serviceable, is to omit the word so, and begin the first clause with as:

      The same thought could be much more clearly expressed by:

      Avoid overusing
      so. Consider omitting it and beginning the first clause with as:

      They also seem comma-happy:

      Divide words at line-ends, in accordance with their formation and pronunciation

      Why is that comma there? There's no parenthetic expression, "in" is not a conjunction, and there's no "when" in that sentence. I'm also intuitively suspicious of it because when I say the sentence, I don't pause there. I assert that it's wrong.

  • What's the big deal? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by kalayl ( 604800 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:26AM (#8634993)
    I don't understand what the big deal is here.

    IRL there's a plethora (he said plethora) of different music retailers - some of them huge chains like HMV or Virgin (in the UK), others smaller and more independent. Some of the big dudes have taken a page out of the small dudes books and even carry more exotic flavours of music these days.

    Let M$ come to market with their offering and add to the competition. As long as (and this is a big as long as) they stick to the rules of fair-play and don't try to undermine their competition, the consumer should benefit from music downloads that are cheaper than ever imagined possible.

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