e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[Tinroad]

Media Grok: Pressplay's Press Play
By David Sims
http://biz.yahoo.com/st/010612/27084.html

As two camps form to do battle (or maybe cooperate, who knows?) over the soul of digital music, MusicNet seems to be winning the first challenge: advance publicity. While neither service is up and running yet, the one promised by AOL Time Warner's Warner Music Group, EMI and Bertelsmann has drawn headlines by using RealNetworks' secure streaming format. And this group gets to use Napster, too.

Yesterday the service formerly known as Duet made its own play for some press by announcing its new name: pressplay (no capital letters, apparently). At some point, it must have become clear that the implication that two players were teaming up (rather than, say, three) must have seemed something less than comprehensive. The year-old service backed by the other two of the Big Five record companies, Vivendi-Universal and Sony Music, also named its top executives. Andy Schuon, formerly head of programming at MTV and president of the music site Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub.com, will become the venture's president. Michael Bebel, an EVP with Universal's eLabs, will become the chief operating officer.

Several sites ran Reuters' comprehensive report on the pressplay announcement, which included background on both ventures and some chin-pulling on where Microsoft will fit into all this. But the radio industry site Gavin.com yawned at the news, saying Duet had changed its name but little else. Specifically, correspondent Doug Wyllie was disappointed that pressplay still has not announced what technology it will use. Reuters' Sue Zeidler furnished a hint, noting that analysts said Vivendi had purchased MP3.com last month "in large part to acquire its technology." In the Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Ordonez and Nick Wingfield cited inside sources who said pressplay was talking with Microsoft about using Microsoft's Windows Media Player technology. It's a logical place for pressplay to turn, since MusicNet relies on RealNetworks.

Meanwhile, Wired News' Brad King stood tearfully on the bluff and wept out loud at the sun setting on the era of free music downloads. Remember the days, man, when 70 million users were grooving on Napster, with access to "any music they wanted - for free"? Napster's soon-to-be-reborn service, King wrote, is "founded on a different principle: keeping free music away from consumers." He cited last week's report from Webnoize that the average Napster user is sharing 90 percent less music than in the heyday of the revolution. Looks like another victory for the Man. Take notes: The grandkids will want details.

Pressplay née Duet

http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,27072,00.html

Napster-MusicNet Deal Is a Real Help

http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,27069,00.html

Sony, Universal Nix "Duet" for "pressplay"

http://www.internetnews.com/streaming-news/article/0,,8161_782441,00.html

Duet Changes Name, Leadership, But Little Else

http://www.gavin.com/news/article.php?id=296

Farewell Free Downloads

http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,44412,00.html

Sony-Universal Web-Music Service Negotiates for Microsoft Technology

http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB99229678760872401.htm

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