Deja Vu - Physical Retailer (Best Buy) buys Digital Music Provider (Napster)

Image via Wikipedia What's old is new again, eh? News just broke that Best Buy purchased Napster for $121 Million. Congrats to Napster for finding an exit, but I'm not all that bullish on the prospects for Best Buy to be successful with this. This has been tried numerous times in the past by physical retailers, without one highlight coming to mind. The one I am most familiar with was Circuit City's purchase of MusicNow several years ago, only to see Circuit City (re)sell it to AOL (for cheap) after being unable to capitalize on it.

I've spent all of 10 minutes thinking about the implications of this, but I'll start with these knee-jerk reactions:

• Yet another subscription model disappears... do you want a subscription relationship with a retailer? I don't. I'm not sure why I find this so unappealing when I have subscription relationships with many (less trusted) companies than big box retailers, but it just doesn't *seem* right to me.
• Would Best Buy consider selling off the subscribers to Rhapsody and just focus on selling DRM-free MP3s? Perhaps... that's an easier sell to their current customers. Buy and iPod at Best Buy and get 10 free MP3s? That could actually be a pretty interesting conversion strategy.
  
• Most consumers have relationships with a digital goods provider right now (e.g. Apple) and I don't see an incentive for them to switch. Granted, Amazon has been successful in selling both physical and digital goods, but I think they are the exception not the rule. Although, I'm thinking that Best Buy sees the digital platform giving them the ability to more proactively push digital commerce affiliate relationships with "click to buy" MP3 links that are meant to compete with Amazon's and iTunes.

I'm sure my thoughts will continue to evolve on this over the next day or so, but what is for certain is that the digital music space continues to have more rehashed storylines and drama than your average daytime soap opera...

Related articles by Zemanta

• Napster's Descent Continues as Paid Subscribers Drop 6.8%
• Napster going DRM-free
• Napster Launches a New Web-Based Version of Subscription Service
• Best Buy to Acquire Napster for $121 Million
• iTunes Remains Top US Music Retailer

Last.fm Rolls Out Freeplays and Subscription

And another shoe drops...

Last.fm – the Blog · Free the Music: "As of today, you can play full-length tracks and entire albums for free on the Last.fm website.

Something we’ve wanted for years—for people who visit Last.fm to be able to play any track for free—is now possible. With the support of the folks behind EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner—and the artists they work with—plus thousands of independent artists and labels, we’ve made the biggest legal collection of music available to play online for free, the way we believe it should be.

Full-length tracks are now available in the US, UK, and Germany, and we’re hard at work broadening our coverage into other countries. During this initial public beta period, each track can be played up to 3 times for free before a notice appears telling you about our upcoming subscription service. The soon-to-be announced subscription service will give you unlimited plays and some other useful things. We’re also working on bringing full-length tracks to the desktop client and beyond."

What's unclear is whether their subscription service will be streaming only or have some download component. My guess is the former - unlimited on-demand streaming - with continued affiliate relationships with Amazon for iPod compatible downloads.

Now the big question is, just how much advertising are they going to have to put in front of everyone to cover the costs of the on-demand licenses with the labels? I've done some modeling of this in the past, and it's most likely going to need to include some piece of video advertising (see prior post about Truveo/AOL deal). And just how much will consumer put up with before they move on to the next ad-free, business model-free, offering?

2008 Digital Media/Music Predictions

I have been remiss in making my 2008 Digital Media/Music Predictions this year. Instead of putting it off until I could formulate some well-thought predictions, I figured I'd take the more lax approach this year and go stream-of-consciousness (and slightly tongue-in-cheek).

As a reference, here are my 2007 Predictions. Now, on to 2008!

• Apple launches a subscription music service (of one form or another). Dark Horse/Long Shot but I'm putting it out there.

• Rhapsody & Napster... "there can be only one!". Napster continues to run out of cash and sells subscriber base off to Rhapsody.

• Amazon siphons off all of eMusic's userbase - eMusic goes up for sale. Potentially to a major label - or a consortium of them?

• The Beatles *finally* make their digital debut - on iTunes. Apple sells millions virtually overnight. That's my "lock of the week".

• AmazonMP3's affiliate program takes off as their catalog of DRMless MP3's from all 4 major labels grow - virtually every site with music content moves to Amazon as primary affiliate partner (and away from iTunes) due to better terms from Amazon.

• Open Standards for music and taste portability finally start to make inroads (see www.openmediaweb.org).

• SoundExchange becomes successful in drastically increasing royalty rates for online radio (retroactively) - they put massive number of broadcasters our of business (and forcing companies like Pandora to change their product and/or business model or shut there doors), see a proliferation of "gray" services that don't pay royalties directly, and collect a fraction of royalty payments then they did before they raise the rates.

• Slacker is acquired - by Microsoft or Motorola. Their hardware/satellite delivery platform is integrated into a more holistic product line.
  

• The major labels (while tentatively supporting DRMless MP3s) will still screw around and not giving users what they want - by forcing users to jump through additional hoops to get the MP3 versions. I cheated on this one since Sony BMG just tipped their hand on this "plan".

• While 2007 saw explosion of new "media & music 2.0" companies hit the market, 2008 will be the year of the great shakeout. Smaller existing "music 2.0" companies are acquired - funding gets tougher to come by for new ones.

• AOL completes their "transformation" to become an ad network - they try to sell off their audience/portal business at bargain basement prices. There are no takers. On a related note, they sell off the AIM business to Facebook. What the hell, every once in a while you have to close your eyes and throw a dart.
  

I'm not going to make predictions on the work that I'm doing (it wouldn't be so much a prediction as a breach of confidentiality) but look for some very cool things out of MyStrands in 2008 too. :-)

What do you guys think? Anything to add? Anything that jumps out as you as "are you smoking crack?!".

Apple Gets Their Dominoes in Place

I've been thinking more about the odds of whether Apple will decide 2008 is the year they launch a subscription music service (of some sort) and been asking others what they think the likelihood is.

The consensus (or lack thereof) is that people either lover or hate the subscription model. And I thought (once again) I would wax (un)poetically about what I'm currently thinking...

As someone that worked on subscription service, I can say without hesitation that the biggest consumer question (and hurdle to trial - and therefore adoption) was "does it work with my iPod"? In response, all of us in that business would do a little tap dance and reply with something akin to..."Uh, no... but check out these cool devices from Creative and iRiver. You should just get rid of your shiny new iPod (and Mac if you have one of those too) and buy one of these instead so you can try this really cool service that your not sure you understand the value of yet".

As subscription services suffer from the "TiVo problem" (where users don't fully appreciate the value until they try it), getting trial is key. If the the addressable market that can actually try it (aka the iPod installed base) is then in the hundreds of millions, the wall comes tumbling down and subscription takes off - albeit at the expense of Rhapsody, Napster and others (sell, sell, sell!).

A 3G (or maybe even WiMax?) WiFiPod/Phone with all-you-can-eat streaming/mobile downloads for $10/month? Done. Trials spike into the tens of millions virtually overnight and conversion rates give Apple a subscription base larger then all other competitors. Offer movie rentals for a couple more bucks a month and now Apple kills Netflix and Blockbuster too. Oh yeah, while they are at it Apple can throw a Skype client onto the device and begin to marginalize the carriers while they are at it by offering voice services for a fraction of consumers current voice plans.

All of this pervasive "Apple-Ready" content then drives adoption of AppleTV (and Mac Mini's) - or at least next generation ones that also support CableCard. People start forsaking their rented Cable Set-Top boxes for Apple boxes they own outright (and also allow them to do more then just watch videos). These boxes bring them broadcast and IP content delivered seamlessly to their living room and the public starts to wonder... "why am I paying Comcast $100/month for TV when everything I'm watching is on-demand content being delivered over the web"?

Apple then controls the devices and the delivery pipe for all your content ("you" pertaining both to the labels/studios and consumers) - and communication. The dominoes are in place... do you dare topple the first one?

If you listen closely you can hear Steve Jobs in the background.... "BWA HA HA HA HA!".

RocketSurgeon & the Brain Scientists

I'm guessing that most of you that read my blog are also very familiar with the posts and directory of RocketSurgeon. What most people probably don't know is that RocketSurgeon (aka Jadam Kahn) and I worked together on the music service formerly known as MusicNow (aka AOL Music Now or more commonly..."the service AOL shot in the head because they could make a quick buck by selling off the subscribers to Napster").

Well, I'm excited to say that (some of) the band is getting back together... Jadam and I are now working together again on the next generation of MyStrands products and services.

I've heard from a number of people who have been watching the activity at MyStrands ask, "what the hell are you guys working on"? Usually right before or after the reference to the recent $25 million round of funding we raised this summer and the stable of Ph.Ds we have squirreled away in various corners of the world.

Well, of course I can't tell you that, but we are very excited about the stuff we've got cooking, and it won't be long before we give you all a whiff. :-)

Universal Music to Take the Reins - But Can they Reign?

BusinessWeek breaks more details on Universal's plans to try and wretch the power back from Apple. Basically, they want to build a consortium (comprised of the major labels) to launch a new tweaked model of music subscription service.

Universal Music Takes on iTunes: "While the details are in flux, insiders say Morris & Co. have an intriguing business model: get hardware makers or cell carriers to absorb the cost of a roughly $5-per-month subscription fee so consumers get a device with all-you-can-eat music that's essentially free. Music companies would collect the subscription fee, while hardware makers theoretically would move many more players."

This feels a bit like Microsoft telling all their device and subscription/DRM partners, "we're tired of waiting for you guys to make a market, get out of the way and we will do it ourselves". Now that frustration has moved further up the chain and the world's largest record label is saying, "I'm watching my business go down the drain and a guy in black mock turtleneck has got me over a barrel - get out of the way, we will do it ourselves".

Questions? Sure, I've got a few...

Q. What about the indies? How bad are they screwed in this scenario?

Q. DRM? I sure as hell hope not. If it doesn't play on iPods and iPhones, it doesn't play.

Q. How quickly does Napster and Rhapsody America bleed customers if this happens?

Q. Pressplay and MusicNet... anyone remember the fate of those major label subscription consortiums?

Q. Will they expose APIs so that they can syndicate this content everywhere, or are they going to drag everyone to a central "store"?

I'm sure I will have more thoughts on this over the coming days. What do you guys think?

The King Has No Clothes (and is Dead). Long Live the King.

I have been on both sides of the subscription music business. I led the product group at AOL that acquired/relaunched AOL Music Now (unfortunately dealt away to Napster) - and I have subscribed to virtually all the competitors. I have been a big fan of the value proposition that subscription music business brings - in spite of itself and all the hoops it makes consumers jump through. If you haven't already, you should read some of my (ever-evolving) thoughts about the state of the market in some of my older posts.

But, as a consumer I have recently sworn off DRM (and Microsoft products/technologies in general to a large degree, but that's a different story) - after years of trying to convince myself and others that DRM is "no big deal". Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right? The turning point for me was the realization that people (like my wife) would have a portable player full of content (that I had to put on there for her) that would never play because all of the licenses were expired. With her being only a part-time computer user, the job would then fall on my shoulders to continually manage her player, download the tracks she wanted and keep it all working. Major pain in the ass.

And yes... Apple obviously uses/has used DRM for a long time too - but to their credit, they simplified the model so that you would never run into the issue of "dead" content on an iPod (since they don't do subscription they don't have to worry about renewing the licenses on a monthly basis).

I still give Rhapsody my $15/month - although I'm not sure for how long considering I broke down and got an iPhone (more on that later). Their issues (and those of the new "Rhapsody America") are the same as they have always been... subscription content doesn't play on an iPod/iPhone. And who in the marketplace doesn't want/have an iPod or iPhone? It's like the kids 30 years ago who's parents bought him a "Magnavox Odyssey2" video game system when the rest of the planet had an Atari 2600 (unfortunately, that was me).

I truly believe that a marketplace with ubiquitous high-speed IP access and multi-function mobile phones solves all of theses issues - but realistically that is still a couple of years off (keep an eye on Sprint... uh, I mean "Xohm"... and their 4G/WiMax rollout) for early adopters and probably 5+ years for the mass market.

So, until then my new digital music M.O. is iPhone + eMusic + DRMless MP3 purchases (some from iTunes even they are actually AAC files, some from gBox, some from Amazon) + free-range MP3 streaming and "acquisition" (SkreemR, Hype Machine, Seeqpod, etc.) + library sharing (via Simplify Media) + personalized streaming services (more on that soon). What the market really needs is a destination that aggregates all these options into a single place - there are a couple that are starting to do this now - and I'm sure more will follow (will it be Google?).

The two year AT&T contract that I had to sign for my iPhone will expire just as it is time to move back to an all-you-can eat subscription model....

Rhapsody and Urge Merge

Big news. The subscription music consolidation continues with MTV rolling it's over-hyped under-delivering subscription service, Urge, in with Real's Rhapsody service - this follows Napster's acquisition last year of both Virgin Digital and AOL Music Now's subscribers.

Free Article - WSJ.com: "In a bid to create a stronger competitor to Apple Inc.'s market-dominating iTunes Store, Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks is set to announce today that it is merging its online digital-music offerings into a joint venture with RealNetworks Inc., the company behind the Rhapsody subscription digital-music service, according to people familiar with the matter."

A couple of more moves are needed until Real has got a realistic shot a making a dent in Apple's marketshare.

1. First, the market needs Napster (or at least their customers) to be acquired by Rhapsody too. Then, the market confusion will start to clear a little (iTunes needs one strong competitor, not a bunch of tiny ones) - then they can easily position A vs. B in their marketing messaging.
2. Offer DRM-free a la carte tracks (which they are going to do) - word is that they will be really high bit-rate (upwards of 256kbps) MP3s. Sell them for $1 each.
   
3. Introduce an ad-supported streaming service - with an upsell tier to ad-free listening.
   
4. Partner with every "music 2.0" site out there and syndicate their free play web player - support *lots* of external communities, not just their own - cut affiliate relationships with them all.
   

Now they have a basic value proposition that the market can understand - "we are just like iTunes but instead of 30-second samples you can listen to the whole song". Songs you buy can be imported into iTunes and sync'd with an iPhone (iPod sync is supported by other players, but if you want to sync your contacts/calendar with your iPhone then currently can only do that with iTunes). You also have a great web-based streaming experience that doesn't require a fat media player client.

Over time they could move towards "package" download tiers (like eMusic where you can download x tracks/month). I would personally like that model, but I actually think they should refrain from offering that as it confuses the marketing message. Once people understand it is "just like iTunes only better", then they can move on and try some new models.

All that being said... there is nothing keeping Apple from doing all this themselves if/when the Rhapsody plan started getting some traction.

PandoraStrands

I love MyStrands Labs... you can always count on something cool popping up in there. I only have too complaints about it... 1.) I wish more of the things in there were integrated with the rest of the site and, 2) I wish I got alerted when new stuff popped up in there. I just subscribed to the Labs feed (and plugged it into me*dia*or too), so hopefully I have the latter taken care of now.

The latest addition is a mashup called PandoraStrands. It is a Firefox extension that integrates MyStrands real-time track-level recommendations, community and scrobbling with Pandora. While listening to Pandora, you just click on the little Muzika icon down at the bottom of the Firefox window. Up pops a window that gives surfaces recommended songs based on the one you are currently listening to. You can click on any of the recommendations to get taken to the MyStrands artist/track pages, or directly add one of the recommended songs as a seed to the station you are currently listening to in Pandora. Very slick.



You can also easily launch Napster to listen to any of the recommendations leveraging their freeplay trial. You can also quickly flip to the "Users" tab and see the other MyStrands community members that have recently listened to whatever song is currently playing on your Pandora station.

And of course all of the songs you listen to in Pandora are tracked and added to your MyStrands profile.

I've always felt like Pandora could benefit from some strong community features, and with PandoraStrands users can now get them. I'm guessing at some point this could be rolled into one of their other Firefox extensions that basically acts as a translation layer between many of the music profiling sites and provides you information on your musical similarity/affinity across different networks - for example, you can see how similar you are to someone on MySpace, Last.fm, Bebo or Friendster - even if that MySpace user doesn't have a MyStands profile. Ah, the beauty of open APIs...

UPDATE: As I think about it more, this would be exceedingly cool if integrated with Foxytunes (another favorite of mine). Really complimentary I think. Alex and Francisco... you guys should talk. :-)

Goombah Yah...

Goombah just announced that they are now leveraging Napster's freeplay trial to create a listenable recommendation playlist. Basically, here is how it works:


1. Download the client application (available for Windows and Mac)

2. Let Goombah analyze your iTunes library (other media players are not yet supported) - depending on the size of your library it may take up to 20 minutes

3. Once the analysis is done, the application will recommend other Goombah users and songs (presumably using basic collaborative filtering algorithms)

4. The song recommendations come in two flavors... free/promotional tracks that can be played and downloaded directly into iTunes (and into an auto-created "Goombah" playlist) and all other tracks. If you are just selecting a single track, then you are also given the option to deep-link directly to Napster's, Amazon's and iTune's catalogs.

5. The most compelling piece is the integration with Napster at the playlist level. Basically, you can click "play recommendations from members" and it will take your list of 100 recommendations and try to match as many to Napster's catalog as they can. After a few moments, it determines that it found "28 of 100 tracks" (for example) and then launches using Napster's freeplay (pops the Napster dhtml player and starts playing the playlist).

6. And of course like any good "music 2.0" service, all of your listening behaviors are captured to passively program a music profile and community. By the way, I've got a new widget on my sidebar that links to a bunch of my profiles - now including my Goombah profile.

As I've talked about many times, the Napster "freeplay" trial enables users to stream any track in the catalog for free up to 3 times (on the 4th try it rolls back to a 30 second sample). I am a fan of this approach (similar to Fiql's - see my post title "Fiql Revisited" from a couple days ago).

I feel like there should be a "meetings of the families" of all of these cool small music 2.0 companies. If a handful of these guys joined forces, they could really create something with real momentum behind it - not to mention benefit from each other's strengths.

No Deal!

The WSJ is now reporting the rumored Microsoft/Yahoo deal is off the table again. But, I still think Rhapster/Napsody should be seriously considered by both parties. Remind me to go and register both of those domain names. :-)

Whoa, I just went to Napster.com and saw a new site design and the much more promient "Free Napster" offering. When the hell did that happen?

While I was there I figured I'd share one of my favorite songs of the moment from the Kings of Leon:

McFearless

Microhoo?!

While music is probably the last of their considerations in this rumored deal, it would certainly change the landscape.

BILL'S HARD DRIVE By PETER LAURIA and ZACHERY KOUWE - Business - New York Post Online Edition:
May 4, 2007 -- "Stung by the loss of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick to Google last month, Microsoft has intensified its pursuit of a deal with Yahoo!, asking the company to re-enter formal negotiations, The Post has learned.

While Microsoft and Yahoo! have held informal deal talks over the years, sources say the latest approach signals an urgency on Microsoft's part that has up until now been lacking.

The new approach follows an offer Microsoft made to acquire Yahoo! a few months ago, sources said. But Yahoo! spurned the advances of the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant. Wall Street sources put a roughly $50 billion price tag on Yahoo!. "

If this ever happened think of the mess of trying to reconcile all of the various music groups and products. Just off the top of my head, here is what I can think of that each would bring into a merger/acquistion:

• Yahoo Music Jukebox(media player)
• MusicMatch (whatever is left of it)
• Yahoo Music Unlimited (subscription service)
• Webjay (playlisting)
• Yahoo Launhcast (streaming radio)
• MSN Radio (powered by Pandora)
• MSN Music
• Zune Player (media player)
• Zune Hardware
• Xbox360 (as media center extender)
• Windows Media Player (Windows and Mobile)
• Windows Media DRM
• PlaysforSure Partners (both subscription service providers like Napster and device manufacturers)

There are probablly virutally dozens of other groups and products that I'm overlooking right now, but what a shakeout that would be. If that happens, then Rhapsody and Napster need to give each other a call and start making wedding plans. Rhapster? Napsody?

Fiql Revisited

I haven't talked about Fiql in a while, and thought it was time. For those that have never checked it out, I highly recommend it. To over simplify, think of it as a place where playlists go to mingle, find their mates, and make babies.

Upload a playlist (data not the assets) from your media player, write a description (make it good if you want to get it called out as a "Fiql Pick"), categorize it, and submit. Fiql will then do the work to match the playlist (or as much of it as it can) to both Napster and Rhapsody. Combine that with Napster's 3-free-plays-per-song trial methodology and now you have a playlist that anyone can listen to (at least 3 times). If you are a Rhapsody subscriber, then you can seamlessly listen to playlists from Fiql - or easily export your playlists from Rhapsody into Fiql. Last.fm user? Then leverage Last.fm's webservices to download an XSPF playlist of your Top 50 Played tracks (http://ws.audioscrobbler.com/1.0/user/jherskowitz/toptracks.xspf) to your desktop. Turn around and upload the XSPF file to Fiql, and done. MyStrands user? Even easier, just find a playlist and click "download xspf".

One of the newer additions is that you can also add MP3 URLs for every track in your playlist (click the "link" icon next to the first song and it will run through the MP3s). I created one, check it out:

View this FIQL playlist:Spinner Spins

The beauty of it.... it is completely legal. The artists get paid, the playlisters won't get sued, Fiql makes money from bounties and advertising, and the consumers benefit from a service that acts as a translation layer between playlists - it is media player and media source agnostic. I actually uploaded my Music Now playlists (from Windows Media Player) so I didn't have to go and recreate them in Napster and Rhapsody.

There are lots of other nice (and very slickly designed) features as well... blogs, groups, forums, community/unsigned artist pages, and more.

I have a feeling there is more from where all this came from....

Circuit City + Napster

Ah, the definition of insanity... trying the same actions repeatedly while hoping for a different outcome each time.

reviewjournal.com -- PR Newswire Press Releases: "Starting April 29, 2007, consumers can sign up for Circuit City + Napster at http://www.circuitcity.com/napster and gain unlimited access to millions of songs on their PCs and compatible digital music devices for $14.95 per month. New subscribers will receive the first month of access free of charge, along with five free song downloads. Consumers will also find information about Circuit City + Napster and the introductory offer at Circuit City stores nationwide and on Circuitcity.com."

Just a a recap, a few years ago Circuity City bought FullAudio/MusicNow and subsequently let them die on the vine until they sold it off to AOL at the end of 2005. As we all know, AOL brought on several hundred thousand subscribers before deciding to get out of the game and sell those subscribers to Napster. Now, Circuit City does a deal with Napster to try again.

I understand why retailers feel like they need to be in the digital music game, but I don't see the incremental value for the consumers. What's next... Circuit City + Netflix?

Napster Passes 800K Subs

It seems like Napster's customer acquisition strategy is paying off for them. First they scooped up Virgin Digital's subscribers, then the 300,000+ subscribers that were near and dear to my heart...

Napster Offers Enthusiastic Revenue, Subscriber Snapshot — Digital Music News: "For Napster, the AOL Music Now acquisition helped to transform the subscription total completely."

This puts them out front in the subscriber race, followed by (in my approximation) Rhapsody, Ruckus, Yahoo Music Unlimited and MTV's Urge.

I actually don't think the shakeout is done yet. I'm guessing that we will see some more subscriber fire-sales from companies that don't want to invest anymore money chasing customers.

Subdizing Music Subscriptions

This deal would be far more interesting if it meant that AT&T subscribers could stream any Napster content directly to their phone, but subsidized subscription pricing for all-you-can-eat sideloaded content is a good start.

AT&T Teams Up With Napster, Delivers Access To 3 Million Song Tracks Across Multiple Screens, Devices: "Strike up the band. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Napster (Nasdaq: NAPS) today announced a new offer that gives customers free unlimited access for one year to more than 3 million song tracks through Napster To Go(R) -- a $180 value -- allowing consumers to customize playlists on their PC and seamlessly transfer favorite tunes to compatible wireless phones and music devices. This move further blurs the line between communications and entertainment as well as wireless and wireline services."

This is what the subscription services need to really start getting some traction. Virtually "invisible" billing for their music. Bundled into their bill as just another line item.... caller id, data plan, music, etc.

Ultimately, I think it would be interesting to see new drop-dead-simple pricing tiers to exist.

1. Stream anything you want for free (ad supported and/or with the premium buried in the wireless carrier's data plans)
2. Download anything you want (unprotected MP3) for $1/pop for sync/burn/offline access
   

If you want to get crazy, then offer an ad-free version of the streaming service for a few dollars a month. But, I think if someone could pull off a model they'd really have a value proposition that would really resonate with consumers. It's basically the iTunes model but with full-tracks instead of 30-second samples, that is accessible from a web browser, and works with any/every device. Isn't that everything you could ever ask for?

The Day the Music (Now) Died

Someone forwarded me this post from a passionate Music Now lover this morning. I can certainly empathize with her dismay and disapppointment with the move of shutting down the service and migrating everyone to Napster... albeit for slightly different reasons.

http://anirazarina.vox.com/library/post/the-day-the-music-died.html


I have waxed poetic about how much I absolutely love AOL MusicNOW. It is was a full-service all-you-can-eat music vendor that allowed you to build playlists and manage your music through a web interface. You could also listen to you music online or download it to your PC/music device to listen without being connected to the intarweb (for a small increase in price). It was the only music service that allowed customized playlists and wouldn't try to foist off crappy artists you had never heard of and didn't like onto your playlist. And, the biggest bonus? It used the intarweb ports and proxies, so I could listen behind the firewall at work.

I, myself, haven't had time to mourn yet.... but it will hit me very shortly. As soon as my licenses expire and I am forced to download another client application (Napster and or Rhapsody) to re-download and sync, I'm sure it will be a painful day.

The comments of the post above also bring out another couple Music Now lovers, with one summing up their thoughts with...

I just want MusicNow back :( About six months ago I turned to Scooter and said "I wonder how AOL will f this one up?" Here's our answer!

No comment.

R.I.P. Music Now, I Will Miss You

Well, this day has been looming over my head for a few months, and unfortunately it has finally arrived. It's like watching your beloved pet slowly dying and you know you are going to have to put it to sleep. You have to keep positive, and enjoy your last days together, knowing that one day it will have to end.

AOL signs Napster as its sole music subscription service - Jan. 12, 2007: "Napster to replace AOL Music Now AOL tells Music Now's 350,000 customers that their accounts will be converted to Napster unless they opt out; transfer should be finished within 60 days."

Napster now has Virgin and AOL's music subscribers (and who knows... maybe more to come). Hopefully they are simultaneously working on a DRM alternative (or better yet, working on a major-label sanctioned DRM-less offering) so that Microsoft's PlaysforSure program's pending demise doesn't leave them out in the cold.

So, where does someone like myself (product lead on Music Now for the last 1 1/2 years) now go for my subscription music service provider? I'm not sure yet. I'm going to start my evaluations (as a consumer) all over again... Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic. iTunes? Nope. I'm sworn off of iTunes and basic a la carte offerings. I love subscription music services, and until Apple offers me one, then I'm going to pursue other providers.

UPDATED COVERAGE FROM NEW YORK TIMES

hypebot: Virgin Shuts US Music Subscription. Napsters Jumps In

hypebot: Virgin Shuts US Music Subscription. Napsters Jumps In

Hypebot has more details on the Virgin/Napster deal. Microsoft abandoning PlaysforSure may be the best thing that ever happened to Napster. It is helping to force the hand of the subscription players - basically testing them see how serious they are about competiting in the space. They either need to invest time and resources in coming up with an alternative DRM/device story, or just bailout and sell their subs to those that are willing to (apparently Napster).

Where are the Coral guys in all of this?! They should be swooping in and providing an easy migration plan and ecosystem story to all of these guys....

Hypebot: Napster Reports some growth

hypebot: Napster Reports Some Growth: "Napster also announced that it has partnered with Virgin Digital to market Napster to U.S.customers who currently use Virgin's paid music subscription service and net radio. Whether this signals a change in Virgin's own offerings is unclear."

The big subscription music shakeout is starting quickly in 2007.... it appears that Virgin is getting out of the business and selling off their subscribers to Napster.