MusicNet Demonstrates Bare-Bones Service
by Mark Lewis
MusicNet demonstrated a bare-bones, on-demand Internet music service
yesterday, showing how major label-backed services are both improving and
forcing usage restrictions on consumers.
The Seattle-based firm -- 40% of which is owned by RealNetworks -- showed how
subscribers paying a monthly fee will be able to search for music by album, title,
genre and decade, then stream or download songs. A counter keeps track of how
many songs a consumer can access per month; that number and its monthly price
will be set by distributors such as America Online, RealNetworks and Napster,
according to David Halprin, MusicNet's director of product management. Halprin,
formerly a RealNetworks product manager who worked on Real's two consumer
digital music applications, RealJukebox and RealPlayer, demonstrated the service
at the Streaming Media West conference in Long Beach, Calif.
The remaining 60% of MusicNet is owned by AOL Time Warner's Warner Music
Group, EMI Group and Bertelsmann's BMG Entertainment, which are licensing
parts of their catalogs to the venture.
The service uses a built-in software player and will not allow consumers to burn
tracks to blanks CDs or export them to portable devices. The limitations are largely
seen as a way to prevent online music from cutting into CD sales, but they also
stem from the fact that the security systems to control CD burning and device
playback haven't been adequately developed.
The usage restrictions may prevent consumers from sticking with the service, but
Halprin believes they will like the ability to sample new music for a low price.
"This service, because it's subscription, is a great way to discover new music. You
don't have to put out $15 for new CDs just to get one song," Halprin said. "You're
not tied to the same songs every month."
Distributors will be able to design their own HTML interfaces for the service and
create specific genre channels if they wish. However, they will not be able to
license MusicNet's music without using MusicNet's secure delivery platform,
developed by RealNetworks. The platform uses Real's RealAudio format,
encryption and licensing software, which checks to make sure a consumer's
subscription is paid before allowing a track to be played.
RealNetworks had promised "limited" peer-to-peer capabilities for the service.
Halprin showed how a subscriber could choose to download a track from another
subscriber if MusicNet's centralized servers are slow, for example. But subscribers
will not be able to view a list of another user's track library, which Napster
popularized as a useful way to discover new recordings.
Furthermore, users will not be able to take tracks saved on their hard drive and drag
them into a player such as RealJukebox, though Halprin said that is planned.
MusicNet isn't packaging its service with a recommendation or personalization
engine. But if its distributors demand it, MusicNet may develop one in-house or
partner with another company, Halprin said. Distributors can add links to CD
retailers in their interfaces, but only after they discuss the proposal with MusicNet.
Halprin declined to say if MusicNet will distribute new releases at the same time as
they are released on CD, or if they will be staggered or windowed the way first-run
movies and home videos are. He also wouldn't reveal the bit rate at which the
tracks will be encoded, indicating only that they are "near CD quality." Labels
typically require online services to limit Internet fidelity -- another attempt to prevent
online music from cutting into CD sales.
Halprin did not demonstrate MusicNet's software installation or a subscription
sign-up process. Past online music systems, such as UMG’s Bluematter
downloadable music system, have required that consumers install several software
components in sequence, then reboot their computers in a time-consuming process
[see 08.01.00 Universal Download System to Debut This Week]. In general,
MusicNet's security should be considerably smoother than last year's major label
download systems, Halprin said.
"We believe we've simplified DRM [digital rights management] so the service will
work for the consumer, and the labels will release more content, which will make
them money," Halprin said.
The MusicNet demonstration system included only 16 to 20 albums, but
RealNetworks has said in the past that the full service will include thousands of
tracks. Major labels have sometimes used their Internet systems to deliver forgotten
B sides and second-tier albums by well-known artists, but have been getting more
aggressive in distributing high-demand promotional singles prior to album
releases.
AI
