=====================================================================
THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
B E A T S H E E T
A Weekly Report on the Convergence of Music and the Net
=====================================================================
| http://www.thestandard.com |
Tuesday, January 25, 2000
TOP STORY:
* What's the buzz? RIAA lawsuit against MP3.com keeps bandwidth
crackling
NET NOISE:
* TuneTo.com turns the dial
UPBEAT:
* EMI and Warner Music group merge
* Microsoft goes Liquid
* Streambox and RealNetworks declare victory
/=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=\
12 Essential E-commerce Research Reports
Now Available from The Industry Standard and Odyssey
Get a detailed analysis of the e-commerce trends that
drive consumer purchases in the Internet Economy.
http://www.thestandard.com/research/store/odyssey
\=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/
TOP STORY:
~~~~~~~~~~
What's the Buzz? RIAA Lawsuit Against MP3.com Keeps Bandwidth
Crackling
By Julene Snyder
Pull up your lawn chair - it's going to be a fight worth watching.
Last week's lawsuit by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) against San Diego-based MP3.com has the digital music community
buzzing. Newsgroups and mailing lists are rife with speculation and
armchair quarterbacking. The chatter is marked by familiar mistrust
between fans of online music and defenders of the music industry. But
between the standoffs, a new thread is emerging: skepticism from MP3
fans who aren't sure that MP3.com is in the right this time.
The RIAA suit charges that MP3.com's new service, My.MP3.com and its
products "Beam-It" and "Instant Listening" violate copyright law by
permitting consumers "permanent access to listen to or download the
infringing reproductions of the CD's tracks from the defendant's
server, on demand, at any place and through any device that can access
the MP3.com site through the Internet." Theoretically, the suit could
shut MP3.com down; potential financial damages could reach $6.75
billion (yes, billion with a "b").
Regulars of the "pho" mailing list - distributed to those interested
in the convergence of entertainment and technology - have been burning
up bandwidth dissecting the suit and its implications. RIAA president
Hilary Rosen is a regular poster to the list, as is MP3.com's CEO
Michael Robertson. Rosen posted a somewhat plaintive plea after the
suit was announced last Friday: "Come on all you pho'sters who have
been calling us for the last week demanding that we sue. You have much
to say. Say it publicly." Robertson provided details of the days
before the suit was filed to the list, and dropped bombshells like "I
could not agree to extortionist threats before we even sat down at the
table."
Asked to comment on the suit's implications for the record, most
industry insiders and contributors to the MP3.com bulletin boards were
eager to go public. Not surprisingly, their views varied dramatically.
Simon Glickman, associate editor of "HITS" Magazine and singer in the
band Spanish Kitchen, is a My.MP3.com advocate: "I think this service
is a remarkably forward-looking way to deliver music digitally," he
says. "It's a step closer to the 'virtual jukebox' we've glimpsed on
the horizon for some time and a thoughtful intermediary between the CD
business (which will inevitably go the way of the 8-track) and the
streaming world (which will eventually become as intuitive as TV)."
Au contraire, says songwriter, musician, and producer/engineer TK
Major of the band One Blue Nine, which has a site on MP3.com. The
lawsuit leaves him with "a sinking, queasy feeling" and a bleak take
on the possible consequences. "I've been a strong supporter of MP3.com
in the past because - in the past - they have supported artists'
rights," says Major, who is not pleased that the new technology
"appears to specifically violate the MP3.com Artist Agreement ... and
the copyright laws which are intended to protect all artists."
Nevertheless, Major would not like to see the site disappear. "This
would be a devastating loss for thousands of artists and their fans."
So true, says prolific "pho" poster David Weekly, a senior at Stanford
and sometime MP3 consultant. "Consumers have a lot to lose, because if
MP3.com fails in this battle, consumers will not have the right to
have others act as proxy in electronic transactions. This is, perhaps,
exactly what the RIAA hopes for: to extend their reign in old media by
a few years by suing every new and useful technology they can."
MP3 may need such diehard fans now more than ever. Tracy Doyle, VP of
marketing for the small independent label American Ragtime Company,
maintains several Web sites on MP3.com but isn't endorsing the
company's new tech. "Challenging the RIAA to a court battle over
copyright law seems quite risky from where I'm sitting. It's
practically an all-or-nothing situation for MP3.com. I'm surprised and
not entirely happy that they have engaged in such a risky move."
And back and forth it goes, enough to make you dizzy. Who knew that
online music lawsuits would become their own form of entertainment?
/=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=\
LOOKING FOR A WEB DEVELOPMENT FIRM?
WE HELP YOU FIND THE PERFECT MATCH.
Introducing TheStandard.com Web Services Buyer Directory. You select
the criteria. We match you with the firms best suited to your needs.
All in Internet time. http://www.thestandard.bsource.com/
\=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/
NET NOISE:
~~~~~~~~~~
REVIEW OF THE WEEK: TuneTo.com
Boy, talk about schizophrenic. Once you've downloaded the TuneTo
receiver, you're invited to rate various artists in categories ranging
from "dislike" to "one of my favorites." This can be a bit
disconcerting when the choices careen from The Captain & Tennille to
Sleater Kinney to the Eagles to the Dead Kennedys. The end result is
supposed to be TuneTo's pointer to radio stations that match your own
oh-so-distinctive musical tastes. OK, so you're not unique and are in
fact comparable to thousands of others. The question is, does it work?
Well in my case, after rating several dozen bands, I was pointed to a
channel where I'm told that listeners prefer Beck, Roxy Music and
Bjork, and dislike Marilyn Manson, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys.
Hmm ... I hate Bjork. Still, the first song that comes up is one I
enjoy (Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime"), and even though the
constant flood of banner ads across the top of my screen could become
annoying, turns out if I've got a window open in front of it, I don't
have to look at the ads at all. The verdict so far? Thumbs up. That
is, until Bjork comes streaming out of my speakers.
- Julene Snyder
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UPBEAT:
~~~~~~~
EMI and Warner Music Group Merge
The latest megamerger has people talking about the Internet again. The
merger gives the combined EMI/Warner Music Group a spectacular catalog
(including EMI's Beatles and Frank Sinatra), a potentially huge asset
on the Internet, where back catalog can have a second youth through
technologies like custom compilation CDs, or Net radio. The reasoning
also went that, with new parent company AOL acting as the far-flung
distribution arm, the combined label will speed up digital
distribution of music over the Net. Okay, what's the logic there? When
companies get big, do they usually move more quickly, or more slowly?
Even with AOL chomping at the bit to get this stuff moving, expect the
usual delays from these majors, even now that they've got each other
to "leverage."
- Lessley Anderson
Microsoft Goes Liquid
Microsoft and Liquid Audio teamed up Monday to offer Liquid's catalog
of 50,000 songs in the Windows Media Format. The deal means another
foothold for MS in its race against Real. According to Media Metrix,
Windows Media recently surpassed RealNetworks in terms of usage.
Currently, Windows Media is used on 44 million computers, RealPlayer
is used on 39.2 million and Apple's QuickTime is used on 32 million.
But as for what this means for Liquid Audio, only time will tell. The
company has moved far astray from its original identity as a music
technology provider - its player now supports every major format
except Real. Instead, Liquid now touts its "distribution network" made
up of sites like Amazon.com, Yahoo and Spinner.com, where Liquid
tracks can be found. How valuable this "network" is to the majors,
when they release their catalogs on line later this year, remains to
be seen. But by that time, Liquid Audio may be singing a different
song.
- Lessley Anderson
Streambox and RealNetworks Declare Victory
A quick reading of headlines regarding last week's judgment in the
Streambox vs. RealNetworks court battle was enough to leave you
scratching your head and wondering just who exactly won. Internet News
reported "Streambox Wins Court Battle With Real." The Wall Street
Journal's headline read "Judge Orders Injunction on Streambox
Products." Perhaps wisely, Livedaily.com took the middle ground:
"RealNetworks Receives Mixed Ruling In Copyright Protection Suit." The
bottom line is the judge decided to put the kabosh on two Streambox
products, the Streambox VCR and the Streambox Ferret, at least until
trial, which may happen this summer. Despite this, Streambox had
reason to celebrate as the judge lifted a temporary restraining order
on its most popular product, Streambox Ripper. The Ripper is a nifty
tool which can play just about any audio file on the market today,
regardless of format. It can also convert an audio file into the
format of your choosing - a real lifesaver when your hard drive starts
looking like an MP3, RealAudio, Windows Media menagerie.
- Julene Snyder and Michael Learmonth
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Julene Snyder. Send newstips and press releases to
julene@well.com.
GET THE MAGAZINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 RISK-FREE issues at this URL:
http://www.thestandard.com/account/magazine
GET MORE NEWSLETTERS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Industry Standard newsletters cover the media, stock market,
e-commerce, music, law and more. Enter your e-mail address at the
following URL and select the newsletters you wish to receive:
http://www.thestandard.com/newsletters/
To UNSUBSCRIBE to any newsletters, log in at the following URL and
select the newsletters you wish to cancel:
http://www.thestandard.com/account/newsletters/unsubscribe
GET MORE NEWS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Go to http://www.thestandard.com for more coverage on the Internet
Economy. For technology news, go to our parent company's site at
http://www.idg.net.
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information on advertising in The Industry Standard
Newsletters, contact Sacha Lien, Online Account Manager
mailto:sachal@thestandard.com
FEEDBACK AND PROBLEMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Send letters to the editor at letters@thestandard.com.
Please contact us with any problems that arise.
Send e-mail to: customerservice@thestandard.com?subj
ect=Online Newsletters.
You can also contact us via phone or mail:
The Industry Standard, Customer Service
(402) 293-0386 (phone)
(402) 293-0794 (fax)
The Industry Standard, Production
315 Pacific Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 733-5400 (main)
(415) 733-5401 (fax)
Copyright 2000 The Industry Standard |