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New Windows Music Service Just Doesn't Compare |
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 As MacDailyNews pointed out earlier today with a flurry of articles, BuyMusic.com launched a new music download service for Windows. The service sounds pretty good at first: song prices run from 79¢ to $1.19, and full albums start at $7.95. The new service also starts out with 1000 more tracks than the Mac-only iTunes Music Service. However, it goes downhill from there.
To listen to the music you download, you need Windows Media Player 9, as all the music is encoded in Windows Media format. Usage of the music you buy is also pretty restrictive, but it varies by song. That's right, you have to remember (or somehow keep track of) the different rights you have for each song. For instance, with the track "Light My Way", by Audioslave, you're allowed to download it three times, transfer it to 5 different MP3 players, and burn it to a CD only 5 times. On top of that, the licenses for the songs you buy are tied to the computer itself.
Songs from the new service won't work on iPod, because...well...they're not MP3's. And according to a USA today article, Buymusic.com's founder Scott Blum says that, "The iPod is the best little product I've ever seen, but it's like building the best car in the world, yet it doesn't use everyone's gas."
Right. Putting aside the fact that his logic is flawed, MP3's are free and universally used (and arguably sound much better) as opposed to Microsoft's proprietary "Windows Media" format. Microsoft is the company trying to make an entirely new type of gas that's incompatible with most cars and shove it down everyone's throats. But I digress...
So moving along here, Buymusic.com also started a $40 million dollar ad campaign to hype the new service. Their spokesman is none other than the irreproachable, loveable, Tommy Lee - the man who should be a role model for kids of all ages! (Note the heavy use of sarcasm here)
As if that wasn't craptastic enough, Buymusic.com has also heavily borrowed from Apple in the making of their TV commercials. The ads feature people set against a white background, singing along to music supposedly emanating from a very non-iPod-like MP3 player. The only big difference between these commercials and the ones Apple released a few months ago are that Buymusic.com's has more than one person in each commercial.
I'll reserve my opinions on these commercials (yes there's a first time for everything!), but if you'd like to view them, here they are:
Rappers Delight Superfreak
Now one last thing. Buying songs from the new service is also pretty easy. Here are the instructions from Buymusic.com:
1. Browse our site, search for your favorite artist, group, album, or song and when you’re ready to buy, click the ‘Buy’ button.
2. When you’re finished shopping, click the ‘Checkout’ button and verify the songs you want and your credit card information.
3. Click the ‘Process Order’ button and “Get Loaded”.
Then all you have to do is transfer the music to your digital media player! This too is as easy as 1, 2, 3! Again, the steps right from the site:
1. Open Windows Media Player and click ‘Copy to CD or Device’.
2. In the Items to Copy pane, in the drop-down list, click the playlist, category, or other item that you want to copy. Make sure you clear the check boxes next to any files you do not want to copy.
3. In the Items on Device pane, in the drop-down list, click the device that you want to copy files to and click the ‘Copy’ button.
Easy as pie! Now all you have to do is keep a database of all your music and how many times you've transferred it to an MP3 Player, how many times you've burnt a CD with each song on it, and how many times you've downloaded it! Much easier than Apple's iTunes Music Store. ;)
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July 22 2003, 3:16 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Jonahan |
7/22/03, 4:46 PM EDT |
Update: Apparently the new service is only usable in Internet Explorer. This is due to the DRM encryption "features" the store employs. More info here.
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| Wasabe |
7/22/03, 5:06 PM EDT |
I thinks the site is dieinggggggggggg
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| Jonahan |
7/22/03, 6:30 PM EDT |
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I won't let you die!!!! You hear me site!? I won't ... let ... you ... dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!
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| Serpico |
7/23/03, 1:00 AM EDT |
Give me a break, have you read the licensing bs? I assume you guys have read all the crap articles and comments everywhere. So I won't go into a long rant here. (love the site guys) But this Buymusic.com and Tommy Lee crap is just abit too much. Steve Jobs better be working with his lawyers tonight on a lawsuit for them copying the Apple commercials.
Typical PC users, they always have to copy Apple in everything. I can't believe they couldn't find a good marketing company to create an original idea for their commercials.
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| Jonahan |
7/23/03, 8:14 AM EDT |
Thanks for the props! Yeah, buymusic.com is total bung. But I love how confident the guy is that his company will succeed....it will only be that much more satisfying to hear him crying when it goes out of business.
PC users are pretty gullible but I don't think even they will buy into this. The Windows Media format and licensing structure is just too ... um............gay. Yes, I think gay would be the word. :-D
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| HTML Samurai |
7/23/03, 10:33 AM EDT |
I think that this type of service has great possibilities, however, Windows Media Format? Stupid licensing stuff? Have to use IE?
But then again, on the other side of the fence, it does seem to be just as proprietary as what Apple is doing. Sure it is great for Mac users, but not everyone has been blessed with a Mac.
It would be great if such a system exists were anyone with a browser and a credit card and purchase and download music - legally.
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| Jonahan |
7/23/03, 10:55 AM EDT |
"just as proprietary as what Apple is doing"??? How is what Apple is doing proprietary? Yes, iTunes only runs on Macs but Apple has promised a Windows version by the end of the year. What Apple has done is very freeing. Not that music is free, but they don't have many limits on what you can do with the music you buy. Not that you actually BUY your music! Sinner. ;)
And "blessed with a Mac"? Please. If you don't want to put up with the [doodoo] you deal with on the other side of the fence then pony up the money and buy a Mac. They're not that much more expensive, and in the case of laptops you actually get MORE for your money. So don't be saying that not everyone is LUCKY enough to have a Mac. If you like computers enough and don't like pain and suffering, then you can afford a Mac. And yes, I'm talking about pain and suffering from both Windows AND Linux. I know how much time you spent and trouble you had with Yellow Dog in your PowerBook. And with getting PHP installed on the Redhat server for 2 Guys. If you'd spent that time working on a website or something, you'd have enough for a brand new Mac! And to me that's what it's all about - saving time.
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| B'ham Dan |
7/23/03, 11:24 AM EDT |
If you think about the fact that it currently only runs on Mac and uses AAC format which currently only plays on Macs and iPods, that seems pretty closed...for the time being. AAC is very likely to spread to the rest of the world (i.e. PC users) soon and iTunes is already slated for PC use later this year or there abouts.
I own a Mac (and am loving every second of it) and haven't downloaded anything from the iTunes Music Store yet because I don't have an iPod and would like to wait until the AAC format is supported by other players.
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| Serpico |
7/23/03, 3:54 PM EDT |
AAC is supported on the pc as well, you'll need another app to read them. The iTunes store uses a special format for the files, but I have read that changing the file ending can allow AAC files to be heard on the PC.
When Apple releases the Windows flavor of the store, there will be no whining. Apple has stated that from day one, that they were going to provide this for Windows users.
Buymusic.com states many times over that they will never support mac users. That is their mistake, but not really, since Windows Media 9 is only available on the PC for now. These guys could have competed with Apple for the mac market share, even though it would be small. Rumor is a mac version is coming soon from the MacBU. The site is also IE specific and no other browser, which tells me they are holding hands like children with Microsoft. Check it out with Safari, and you'll see that this horrible website does not render well. That site really sucks even in IE.
My wife is a pc user and has no intention in buying or visiting for that matter. She said she is waiting for Apple's version. We really can't afford a new mac for her even though she may switch. But still the store isn't available up here in Canada yet.
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| Jonahan |
7/23/03, 4:31 PM EDT |
Well about HAVING to use IE as your browser, this is what their site says:
Your browser must be Internet Explorer. (See Minimum System Requirements.) If you browse the site with Netscape you cannot purchase and download music. The reason is that your music files are wrapped in DRM encryption, which is unencrypted by the license that you download when you download the music file. The license download requires and Active-X control which is only compatible with Internet Explorer. Without it you cannot download your license and your music stays encrypted and unusable.
So from I get out of that, it sounds like IE is needed to usher in the Windows Media file and not lose the encryption. I know you can fake what browser you're using, but I wonder if that would still allow you to download and use the music.
Anyhow, I have no use for it, just kinda kicking around an idea.
Another thought is that since the music is actually tied to that computer, if you want to upgrade to a new machine, yer screwed. Or if you even have to send the machine in for repairs you might be out of luck. I don't know what the music files look at on the machine, maybe a unique number on the mobo, or perhaps the MAC address (unlikely) but the DRM this site is using sure does blow!
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| Serpico |
7/23/03, 5:56 PM EDT |
Poor pc users, just buy the damn cd or stay with Kazaa. Most will still download for free, especially the big group of young users.
Buymusic.com has very high expectations that I find hard to stop laughing at. All their $40 million went to that dumb ad in NY, copycat commercials and Tommy Lee. An artist that isn't doing well at all at the moment and probably the only artist they could get.
Too funny man, too funny.
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