Digital Technology for Digital Living.
December 22, 2004
Online Music Spat.
Not surprisingly Australia’s online music retailers have attacked a criticism made by music analyst Phil Tripp. In fact Gadget Lounge would like to agree with him.
On the subject of downloading, what didn’t happen this year was the sort of blue sky results that were projected by the three major download retailers-BigPond, ninemsn and Destra. The WMA way of downloading, PC only, with no real marketing, a poor selection of music, not enough of a compelling reason to try & buy plus everyone buying that incompatible iPod made the dawn of downloading a travesty at best.
All very true and leads to a very lackluster online music industry in Australia. All Apple has to do is launch the iTunes Music Store in Australia in the next few months and the three major’s business will be decimated.
Their response is nothing more than reactionary. They can have as many tracks available as they want, which seems to be their main defense, but if the format is as limiting, their sites difficult to navigate, and advertising as thin as it is, it won’t take off.
“It is quite disingenuous to claim that because Apple chooses to make the iPod incompatible with other music download services, that it is somehow the fault of the Windows-based music stores. We would love to sell our music to iPod owners, but Apple won’t let us,” Middleton said.
Middleton, BigPond’s Corporate Affairs Manager, must be joking with that comment, or he’s incredibly naive. Hasn’t he heard of MP3, an open format, that not only works on the iPod, but every other portable digital music player available. So Apple’s just fine with them selling music for their player.
Gadgets boy | Comments (1) | Musicgadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
Interesting debate this one.
Bigpond et al complaining their DRM (WMV) cannot be played upon the iPod is a complete joke. However Apple have played it smart by making iTunes available to Windows users, therefore the AAC DRM is a reality on both platforms. Windows users will be able to download from the iTunes music store and therefore transfer the AAC format to an iPod, using their Windows computer.
On the other hand Bigpond et al have made Apple (OS X platform) users most unwelcome at their respective websites. By locking out Apple users, they have effectively put their head in the sand by being righteous. As you highlighted, they’ll be decimated when the iTunes music service becomes available in Australia and both windows and apple users will rejoice.
Mind you, Telstra/Bigpond have always produced dodgy products at inflated prices. Why should we trust them now?
p.s. Picked up your site from the blog awards and have read ever since. A great read! Good luck with the awards!