Wednesday
The Big Three More Willing To Listen To Real Music
BY NIKI SCEVAK
The launch of the blandly titled MusicNet by Real Networks sparked renewed interest in the company, with many hoping that the service will emerge as a legitimate alternative to Napster.
Under the deal Warner Music, BMG and EMI will license their portfolio of artists on a non-exclusive basis to the online music service. In return the three labels will take a minority stake in the burgeoning startup.
In addition to launching its own paid subscription service, Real Networks will license its underlying technology platform to others wishing to a launch paid initiatives. The first licensee is AOL, who will centre its music subscription service around the platform. Online music bad boy, Napster, will only be allowed to license MusicNet if it is able to meet certain security and legal requirements.
Will the streaming technology come media mogul be able to succeed where others have failed though?
There are certainly some encouraging signs with Real Networks' GoldPass service. It launched the service last June and has amassed 175,000 subscribers, who each pay $US9.95 per month to access over 2500 radio channels, including live streaming of NBA and MLB sporting events.
The shift to the online music world however, is not without its problems. The absence of the remaining two major music labels in Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, means that the service will be somewhat incomplete. Many argue that consumers will be reticent to subscribe to the service as they will be confused at to exactly which artists will be available. The conundrum for Real Networks is that for the majority of the population can not name the artists each label owns.
The development of online music locally is restricted by the struggles of local players to come to grips with the bonfire of capital burning in front of them. ChaosMusic is aggressively pursuing an offline strategy in order to stabilise its online operations, and Sanity.com.au is embarking on an ambitious capital raising.
WiredRecords.com, an initiative from diversified holdings group EhYou.com and Sanity.com.au, is probably the most significant in the area. It aims to provide musicians the technology to allow them to regulate the distribution of content. The uncertainty of its parents however, have surely hindered its progress.
The critical factor in this debate will be degree of consumer demand for music subscriptions. Will the underground networks of illegal music sharing be too prevalent for a paid service to survive? Would you personally pay a nominal monthly fee to access a comprehensive catalogue of songs? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts via the commenting feature at the bottom of this article.
BY NIKI SCEVAK
The launch of the blandly titled MusicNet by Real Networks sparked renewed interest in the company, with many hoping that the service will emerge as a legitimate alternative to Napster.
Under the deal Warner Music, BMG and EMI will license their portfolio of artists on a non-exclusive basis to the online music service. In return the three labels will take a minority stake in the burgeoning startup.
In addition to launching its own paid subscription service, Real Networks will license its underlying technology platform to others wishing to a launch paid initiatives. The first licensee is AOL, who will centre its music subscription service around the platform. Online music bad boy, Napster, will only be allowed to license MusicNet if it is able to meet certain security and legal requirements.
Will the streaming technology come media mogul be able to succeed where others have failed though?
There are certainly some encouraging signs with Real Networks' GoldPass service. It launched the service last June and has amassed 175,000 subscribers, who each pay $US9.95 per month to access over 2500 radio channels, including live streaming of NBA and MLB sporting events.
The shift to the online music world however, is not without its problems. The absence of the remaining two major music labels in Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, means that the service will be somewhat incomplete. Many argue that consumers will be reticent to subscribe to the service as they will be confused at to exactly which artists will be available. The conundrum for Real Networks is that for the majority of the population can not name the artists each label owns.
The development of online music locally is restricted by the struggles of local players to come to grips with the bonfire of capital burning in front of them. ChaosMusic is aggressively pursuing an offline strategy in order to stabilise its online operations, and Sanity.com.au is embarking on an ambitious capital raising.
WiredRecords.com, an initiative from diversified holdings group EhYou.com and Sanity.com.au, is probably the most significant in the area. It aims to provide musicians the technology to allow them to regulate the distribution of content. The uncertainty of its parents however, have surely hindered its progress.
The critical factor in this debate will be degree of consumer demand for music subscriptions. Will the underground networks of illegal music sharing be too prevalent for a paid service to survive? Would you personally pay a nominal monthly fee to access a comprehensive catalogue of songs? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts via the commenting feature at the bottom of this article.
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