While Apple Computer grabs publicity for its new 99 cent music
download store, Microsoft is quietly preparing for a counterattack by
improving its own technology for supporting subscription music services.
Services such as Pressplay,
which uses Microsoft technology, have been put on the defensive with
news that Apple has sold more than 2 million downloads since April 28,
the day its iTunes Music Store launched.
But Microsoft is betting that new security enhancements planned for
later this year could make renting music, rather than owning it, more
attractive to consumers.
Microsoft said it is developing software that makes it easier for
subscription services to transfer music to portable music players.
These services now provide unlimited downloads of hundreds of thousands
of songs to a PC for a monthly fee, but they typically do not allow
files to be moved around much. Microsoft said it will soon address this
shortcoming with technology that will allow unlimited downloads to a
portable device–a dramatic improvement.
“We can already support unlimited downloads tethered to the PC,”
said Jonathan Usher, director of Microsoft’s Windows Media division.
“The next step is enabling access to unlimited downloads on consumer
devices.”
After years of delays, the record industry is experimenting with
services to combat the wide availability of free music brought on by
the MP3 file format and file-swapping software such as Kazaa. Record
labels and retailers have tried to lure paying customers by offering
singles for sale as downloads for less than $1, and also for rent
through monthly subscription services.
Microsoft has been a key player in developing the technologies behind
many of these trials, but its partners so far have failed to hit on a
formula that rivals the early success of Apple’s music store. Record
label-backed services such as Pressplay do not disclose their
subscriber rates, but estimates for sign-ups hover in the tens of
thousands–far short of the numbers that would suggest significant
consumer interest.
Microsoft originally planned to announce the security enhancements
in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But it missed
that deadline, giving Apple the opportunity to take the offensive by
launching the iTunes Music Store first.
“It was supposed to launch last CES, with a big announcement with
the labels, but it was delayed,” said Kevin Branigan, vice president of
marketing for Diamond Rio MP3 players. “Once it’s ready, the labels will promote this very heavily.”
The delay may hurt the reception for Microsoft’s enhancements, which
are expected to arrive as part of its Windows Media Digital Rights
Management for Devices version 9. Key features of this upgrade are
designed for subscription services, an idea that was well received only
months ago but has now lost luster thanks to Apple.
Apple’s music product grants permanent ownership of files and relies
on relatively light controls, maintained through a proprietary security
format called FairPlay, that aim to be invisible to most users. People
who buy tracks through Apple’s iTunes music store can burn songs up to
10 times from the same playlist, share access from three different
computers, and transfer tracks to Apple’s iPod portable music player.
Subscription services subpar?
Subscription services, on the
other hand, have typically applied heavy-handed locks that make it
difficult to move files from a PC in their downloaded form, and the
services may charge extra for the right to burn songs to a CD or
transfer them to a device.
As of last week, at least one record label executive was ready to
declare closely restricted subscription services a failure already: “I
don’t see the model becoming a significant part of the music industry,”
he said.
To be sure, it’s too early to call Apple a winner in the online
music market, which is still in its formative stages. Many label
representatives believe the industry may gravitate toward a hybrid
model that marries some elements of a download store and other elements
drawn from subscription services.
Subscription services are “ahead of their time” according to a
senior executive at another record label, who said a key stumbling
block is providing unlimited access to subscription music away from the
PC on portable music players and other devices. “Ultimately, there will
be a huge audience for this, but the services need to provide
portability,” he said.
“Downloads are very close to an old-fashioned experience,” he added.
“Subscriptions are much more of a shift…but the technology isn’t
right for the shift to happen. We’re hoping it will happen this year,
that the technology companies will provide portable players that can
play the music.”
Microsoft’s Usher said that Windows Media already supports secure
playback on some 15 portable music players, including the Diamond Rio,
but only for songs that are purchased, not rented. He said the company
is continuing to work on enhancements to support subscription services
on devices.
Microsoft plans to add support for a clock in portable music players
and other consumer-electronics devices. The clock would provide a “time
out” feature much like that used in PC versions of its DRM software. If
customers don’t pay their monthly subscription bills by a certain date,
access to the files on those devices is cut off.
Time-outs can be supported relatively easily on PCs, which have
plenty of memory and processing power to handle a clock and the
associated DRM. But supporting clock DRM on small handheld devices
poses a considerable engineering challenge, thanks to limited CPU
resources and battery life. Usher said Microsoft is working with
consumer-electronics device makers to add clocks that can be hooked up
to its rights-management system.
“It’s taken longer than we originally intended,” Usher said,
confirming that Microsoft had originally planned to release a security
upgrade in January.
Usher said the company’s DRM technology is flexible enough to be used
in numerous music schemes, including $1 download stores like Apple’s.
He added that he’s confident consumers eventually will warm up to
subscription services once they support wider copying rights and their
value is better understood.
“We already support a couple of business models,” Usher said. “The
other part of the business model that gets interesting is, what about
unlimited downloads? The Apple store is not looking at or supporting
anything like that.”
Source: CNET News.com
Related Posts
- Microsoft preps content locks for devices
- Microsoft slams iTunes
- Apple meets Scandinavia’s reply deadline
- Nordic regulators to discuss iTunes
- Microsoft Considering Digital Player To Rival iPod
Loading ...
