In an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Sony BMG CEO Rolf Schmid-Holtz explained that the music studio is considering launching an all-you-can-eat style subscription music service. There aren't a ton of details at this point, and it's not even clear if this subscription plan will ever materialize, but here are a few highlights from the interview:
The service would probably cost between 6 and 8 Euros per month (or $9 to $12).
This isn't just idle talk. Sony BMG has conducted at least enough market research to set what theybelieve is a fair price.
Sony will continue to sell music through Apple's iTunes Store.
Now for the confusing part. Tracks would play on all MP3 players, including the iPod. We assume this means the music would have to be DRM-free, but Schmid-Holtz also explains that most of the music would no longer play if you stop paying your monthly subscription bill. Huh? [via Engadget]
Earlier today we reported that Sony was going to charge customers $50 to remove crapware like trial software, anti-virus applications, and other software that you probably didn't want anyway from its TZ2000 line of laptop computers. While it might sound funny that you're expected to pay money to receive less software, there's a pretty simple explanation: Software companies pay computer makers to add a bunch of junk you never asked for to your PC. So Sony wanted to offer a bloat-free option, but planned to make up the lost revenue by charging consumers.
But a funny thing happened today. A ton of tech sites started reporting on the move, and for the most part, bloggers, readers, and commentors didn't have pleasant things to say. And now Wired reports that Sony has changed its plans and will offer the "Fresh Start" option to TZ2000 customers free of charge.
Now, don't get too excited about this. Customers will still need to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows Vista Business to qualify for Fresh Start, which means you'll still have to pay an extra $100 (although you will get some additional Windows Vista features). And the TZ2000 line of computers don't exactly come cheap. The laptop computers start at $1900. We don't expect to see a budget line with a free "Fresh Start" option offered anytime soon.
What's the first think you do when you get a new computer? You spend time trying to figure out how much of the junk preloaded by the manufacturer is worth keeping and how much you can throw away. Every now and again you'll get something useful like an antivirus program or software for managing your display settings. But just as often, you get demos of applications you have no plans to pay for.
Sony is offering some customer a chance to remove all of that promotional software (often referred to as crapware). But here's the dirty little secret - Sony and other computer makers are including that software for a reason. They get kickbacks from software companies. So Sony will charge you an extra $50 to remove the software. You have to select "Fresh Start" while you're configuring your PC to do this.
Currently, the only Sony model with the Fresh Start option is the TZ2000 line of laptops. And in order to qualify, you have to upgrade from Windwos Vista Home Premium to Windows Vista Business, which will tack $100 to your price. So really, Sony is charging users who want a crapware free system as much as $150. Classy.
Of course, you can also just buy your new PC preloaded with applications you don't need and use the free PC Decrapifier to remove all the unnecessary bloat.
SXSW is a junction of film, music and interactive folks with the iF! trade show floor reflecting that eclectic mix. We found a healthy smattering of music booths, some film schools and lots of web app companies. Big booths included Sony, Mapquest, Opera, Yahoo and O'Reilly while smaller booths from Axiom, Kyte and AIM provided a smorgasbord of interactive wares. You can see the full list on the SXSW site or just peep our gallery for a virtual tour.
Trade show floors often take on a circus-like atmosphere, with booths doing what they can to lure you to their wares. At iF! the "cool thing" was Guitar Hero. We counted no less than four booths with the ubiquitous guitar controllers and LCD screens (even if they were often unmanned). One booth broke with tradition and had Rock Band. Brave, no?
Our money for Most Fun Demo is on Bitstrips, a killer app for making your own comic strips online. Imagine mixing Mii-creation tools with Comic Life and you get the idea. Lots of fun, diverse and powerful, and stupid simple to use. Most boring? Well, hard to say because by the time we hit the floor a few booth attendees had left, leaving their booths sitting there, dejected and stickerless.
The Playstation Portable is a jack of all trades. It plays music, videos, browses the Internet, and plays games. However, for an increasing number of people, this still isn't enough. With its powerful dual-processor configuration and Memory Stick Pro Duo slot, the PSP is a pocket powerhouse, capable of much more than just gaming and multimedia.
This is where the homebrew community comes in. With some modifications to its system software, the PSP can run 3rd party software, just like an ordinary computer. A massive community has sprung up online that is dedicated to these modifications. Read on to find out more.
Sony's Connect music store has been around a fair while, in fact, a fair while longer than perhaps some of us expected. Sony -- a company once so powerful and successful in portable music -- cooked up the Connect service as a response to Apple's all-powerful iTunes Store. The plan was a store to supply music to the dozen or so users who bought one of its NetMD or MP3 players, and couldn't play media on these devices in a format other than Sony's proprietary ATRAC-3 format.*
Of course, Sony is also a record-label and (as with all of Sony's digital music efforts) the Connect service was clearly put in front of some executives who were absolutely terrified of the 'Cloverfield monster' otherwise known as piracy. The executives, so hell-bent on protecting their content, forgot that actually they had to sell the service to the public and decided that they'd allow Connect, but that the DRM would be so visible and limited that no-one would dare think of pirating music again. If you hadn't guessed, here at Download Squad, some of us have 'issues' with Sony's digital mis-steps -- issues best explained in another post -- so we'll skip forward to the present day.
Disappointed by yet another underwhelming CES packed with expensive gadgets that don't do much more than last year's model? Fear not, we've been busy bringing you the best of free and cheap software. And unlike CES, Download Squad runs 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Here's some of what you might have missed if you were knee deep in UMPCs and HDTVs this week. Comcast could receive a hefty FCC fine for throttling Bittorrent Look, we know Comcast probably isn't going to get slapped with a $1.77 trillion fine. But that's what some groups are calling for in response to findings that the cable/internet/phone provider has been intentionally favoring some internet traffic. And next time your downloads slow down or you have to spend an hour on the phone with a tech support person, that $1.77 trillion figure gives you something to dream about.
AT&T openly says it may filter internet content Oh sweet irony. Not a day after the FCC announced it was considering fines against Comcast for filtering internet content, AT&T officials said they might consider doing the same thing. Seriously, don't they read Download Squad?
Apparently Sony's plan for DRM-free music distribution isn't quite as dumb as we thought. Sure, the music label's announcement that it would sell DRM-free music was quickly followed by the news that you'd have to walk into a bricks and mortar retail store and buy a gift card allowing you to download an album's worth of tracks from the web. But it turns out that's not the only way to get DRM-free music from Sony BMG.
Amazon just put out a press release stating that it will be adding MP3 tracks from Sony to Amazon MP3 later this month. That will make Amazon the first online music store to offer DRM-free music from each of the four major music labels.
No word on how much of Sony's music library will be available via Amazon, but we're just glad to see you'll be able to purchase individual tracks and that you won't have to leave the house to get your music fix.
You know how we told you the other day that Sony would become the last major label to offer DRM-free music? Yeah, apparently they're going kicking and screaming. While most record labels offering DRM-free downloads are letting users buy songs from online retailers like iTunes and Amazon, Sony wants you to go into a bricks and mortar store and drop $12.99 on a plastic card with a code that will let you download the album from the company's new MusicPass web site.
That's right, you've got to walk into a store, pay for a full album, and then go home to download your song. You might as well just buy a CD while you're at the store and rip it for yourself.
But wait, there's more. Or less, rather. When the service launches on January 15th, there will be a whopping 37 albums available for download. And no way to buy singles.
You'll be able to pick up MusicPass cards at Best Buy, Target, Fred's and a handful of other stores.
DRM is dead, long live the MP3. OK, dead might be an overstatement, but Sony BMG is the latest major record label planning to offer music in the unrestricted MP3 format. For years, Sony, EMI, Universal, and Warner have insisted on using digital rights management software to limit music piracy. But now each of the major four labels is offering up at least a portion of its library in DRM-free MP3 or AAC formats.
Why the change? Partly because as time goes by and consumers are used to paying for music from online retailers like iTunes or Amazon MP3, fewer people are turning to pirate networks to get free music. But more importantly, over the last few years Apple has developed a near-monopoly on the music download business. And while the record labels are certainly profiting from their relationship with Apple, they also don't want to be locked into selling their music through just one channel. By offering DRM-free music, they can help boost Amazon MP3 and other online music retailers that are competing with Apple.
It's not clear how much of Sony BMG's library will be available DRM-free. But the company does plan to participate in Amazon and Pepsi's upcoming Super Bowl promotion to give away 1 billion DRM-free tracks.
There are some signs that Skype VoIP software may be coming Sony's PSP. According to Sony's CES PR documentation, Skype is going to be available on the PSP. We tried to contact Skype's PR department for an official word, but they said "No comment at this time". We'll see what happens when CES kicks off this coming week.
For now, we can only rely on the fact that Skype is listed in the PSP's feature list on their site, as seen below.
ImageStation is dying a slow death. You can no longer sign up for a new account. Some features will be shut down on November 12th, including image uploading, sharing, and shopping. The site will officially close on February 1, 2008.
In the meantime, Sony is offering current users the ability to transfer their photos to Shutterfly. You can also download high resolution images to your computer one at a time, which could take a while. Or for $7.49 per disc, you can order archived copies on CD or DVD.
Sony may have the goods to pull this off. Apple developed the iTunes music store in order to sell content that would make you want to buy an iPod. The hardware and software are made to work together. Sony already has the hardware (the Playstation3, the Playstation Portable, and Bravia television sets) and the content (Sony Pictures movies and TV shows).
Now imagine media service where you can go online using your computer, PS3, PSP, or even your TV remote control, buy a movie or a complete season of a TV show, and automatically download it to a device for viewing. No $300 AppleTV required.
Of course, in order to succeed, Sony will need to sign distribution deals with other TV and movie producers. But while Apple holds onto its number one position in online music sales with a strong grip, there's not clear leader in video downloads. So whether Sony can take the lead is kind of beside the point right now. We're just happy to see someone else moving into this space.
Sony's introducing a new line of Walkman media players with support for video playback. While this is a first for the company, we're much more excited about a corollary to that story: Sony is killing off its Connect music store and along with it, the proprietary ATRAC music format.
In a nutshell, ATRAC files sound about as good as any other compressed digital audio files. But unlike MP3, OGG, and WMA files, you can pretty much only listen to ATRAC files on Sony devices. That's because not only does ATRAC use DRM, but most manufacturers just don't support the standard.
Sony's switching from ATRAC to WMA in its new players, and phasing out the Connect Music Service starting next year.
The company will be giving customers "the best possible guidance on how to successfully transfer your music library to an MP3 or Windows Media-compatible format." It's not quite clear whether that means Sony will be providing conversion tools or just instructions. Updates will be available on the Connect website.
Oh yeah, and they recommend using up any account credit or promotional vouchers you've got before March of 2008. In other words, don't expect to get a cash refund if you don't use them by the time the store closes.
Seems that we forgot to wish our good friend 'Compact Disk' a happy birthday on August 17th. It was that day in 1982 that the first CD was manufactured at a Philips factory in Langenhagen Germany, close to Hanover.
Sony and Philips worked together to develop this new technology as a shift away from analog and into digital recordings leading to the eventual launch of the DVD and Blu-ray media technologies. This technological revolution sparked a big change for the music industry, skyrocketing music prices among other things. Since then there has been over 200 billion CD's sold, with Polygram holding the title of the first CD for ABBA's The Visitors album. However, people couldn't listen to them because the first CD players hit the Japanese shelves three months later, with the US and Europe not seeing them until March of 1983.
The computer virus also celebrated its 25th birthday earlier this year. So one thing we need, and one thing we definitely do not.
The Playstation Portable is a jack of all trades. It plays music, videos, browses the Internet, and plays games. However, for an increasing number of people, this still isn't enough. With its powerful dual-processor configuration and Memory Stick Pro Duo slot, the PSP is a pocket powerhouse, capable of much more than just gaming and multimedia.
Sony's Connect music store has been around a fair while, in fact, a fair while longer than perhaps some of us expected. Sony -- a company once so powerful and successful in portable music -- cooked up the Connect service as a response to Apple's all-powerful iTunes Store. The plan was a store to supply music to the dozen or so users who bought one of its NetMD or MP3 players, and couldn't play media on these devices in a format other than Sony's proprietary ATRAC-3 format.*
Disappointed by yet another underwhelming CES packed with expensive gadgets that don't do much more than last year's model? Fear not, we've been busy bringing you the best of free and cheap software. And unlike CES, Download Squad runs 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Here's some of what you might have missed if you were knee deep in UMPCs and HDTVs this week.
Apparently Sony's plan for DRM-free music distribution isn't quite as dumb as we thought. Sure, the music label's announcement that it would sell DRM-free music was quickly followed by the news that you'd have to walk into a bricks and mortar retail store and buy a gift card allowing you to download an album's worth of tracks from the web. But it turns out that's not the only way to get DRM-free music from Sony BMG.
You know how we told you the other day that Sony would become the last major label to offer DRM-free music? Yeah, apparently they're going kicking and screaming. While most record labels offering DRM-free downloads are letting users buy songs from online retailers like iTunes and Amazon, Sony wants you to go into a bricks and mortar store and drop $12.99 on a plastic card with a code that will let you download the album from the company's new MusicPass web site.
DRM is dead, long live the MP3. OK, dead might be an overstatement, but Sony BMG is the latest major record label planning to offer music in the unrestricted MP3 format. For years, Sony, EMI, Universal, and Warner have insisted on using digital rights management software to limit music piracy. But now each of the major four labels is offering up at least a portion of its library in DRM-free MP3 or AAC formats.
Sony seems to be gutting its online media offerings like a fish... or something else you gut. Last month we found out that Sony was closing its Connect music store. Now it turns out the company is also killing the ImageStation online photo sharing site.
Just days after Sony announced it was pulling the plug on the Connect music download service, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sony plans to launch a video download service to compete with iTunes.
Sony's introducing a new line of Walkman media players with support for video playback. While this is a first for the company, we're much more excited about a corollary to that story: Sony is killing off its Connect music store and along with it, the proprietary ATRAC music format.
Seems that we forgot to wish our good friend 'Compact Disk' a happy birthday on August 17th. It was that day in 1982 that the first CD was manufactured at a Philips factory in Langenhagen Germany, close to Hanover. 
