p2pnet - rss feed: Sony BMG partners DRM-laden We7
p2pnet news | Music:- Having spent years trying to pretend P2P doesn’t exist, the Big 4 music dinosaurs Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music (US), are now trying everything they can think of to try cynically turn it to their exclusive advantage.
Sony BMG, user of the infamous, and very dangerous, spyware application hidden on music CDs, has now licensed 250,000 tracks to We7, a ‘free’, DRM-ridden advertising-supported music streaming effort, backed by Peter Gabriel.
The news comes as 24-7 Entertainment prepares to launch an unlimited music download service for a Nordic mobile and broadband provider, rumoured to be Denmark’s TDC, says the Guardian, going on:
“It is also understood to be in talks with a number of UK internet service and mobile phone providers about a similar service.”
Mobile phone operator O2, owned by Spain’s Telefónica, will this week announce a deal with near destitute Napster and, “Vodafone is also understood to be in talks with the outfit,” continues the story.
The moves come as governments in Britain and France, “have warned that they will introduce legislation that demands internet service providers (ISPs) monitor what their users are doing if the tide of illegal file-sharing cannot be turned,” it states, adding:
“We7 already offers free music downloads. It attaches targeted adverts to a song for 30 days before they are removed by DRM software. The tracks provided to We7 by Sony BMG will be made available through a new streaming service that will allow users to build up playlists of songs they want to hear while they remain online. The label hopes people will sample new music before clicking through to a download store to buy it.”
Dream on.
“Sony did not rule out also contributing tracks to We7’s own download service but said the streaming service was a logical first step,” says the Guardian. “The download service, which has deals with several independent labels, appends a short ad to the beginning of each song that remains in place when it is downloaded and transferred to a portable player.”
BMG UK’s Ged Doherty admits the “troubled music industry” has been too slow to experiment with new revenue models, and that the Sony BMG move is part of a so-called “do and build” strategy.
The company is in talks with a range of other ad-funded services, he added.
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CORRECTION:-
Our apologies to we7.
We described it as a free, “DRM-ridden advertising-supported music streaming effort, backed by Peter Gabriel.”
But we misunderstood.
Gareth Reakes we7 CTO, says in a p2pnet Reader’s Write:
“I wanted to correct this article. We7 do not use DRM. All downloads are mp3 only and always have been. Its [sic] why taking the ad off is a bit complicated at the moment (you have to come back to site and re-download it). We do have a download manager coming out to help with this though.”
Says the Guardian article cited in our post:
“We7 already offers free music downloads. It attaches targeted adverts to a song for 30 days before they are removed by DRM software.”
So where’s the DRM software, and how does it strip off the ads after 30 days? Do we7 tunes come with it on board, so to speak, or is it implanted on users’ computers together with downloads.?
And what is the software, exactly, and who makes it?
We’ve asked Reakes for an answer to these interesting questions and we’ll post his response as soon as we receive it.
Stay tuned.
[NOTE - p2pnet is running a special reader’s survey. It only takes 20-30 seconds and it’d be a huge help if you’d fill it in. Please click here. Cheers! And thanks … Jon]
Also See:
Guardian - Sony joins We7 to make music free, March 10, 2008
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March 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Hi, my name is Gareth Reakes and I am CTO at we7. I wanted to correct this article. We7 do not use DRM. All downloads are mp3 only and always have been. Its why taking the ad off is a bit complicated at the moment (you have to come back to site and re-download it). We do have a download manager coming out to help with this though. Any questions please feel free to mail gareth at we7 dot com.
Regards,
Gareth
March 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Ads at the start of a song? Way to piss on the concept of an album as something bigger than just a collection of songs. But then again, (and no offense intended), I feel these services are targeted to those who are less musically educated due to, in my experience, the limited artist selection to what’s popular and such said ideas which break down and dumb down the greater aspects of musical composition. When a good artist releases a solid album, its crafted to flow together and be an album; its a single entity to be enjoyed uninterrupted from start to finish.
March 12th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Hi Jon,
The guardian quote is incorrect. There is no DRM software. You download an mp3 with the ad (an mp3 cannot have DRM - its an open format that can be played but all mp3 players). After 30 days you come back to the site and download it again without the ad (using one of your credits). Alternatively, and you don’t have to use this, you can soon download a bit of software for iTunes that helps you by removing the ads without you having to come back to the site. This is not any kind of DRM - it places no restrictions on the playing of movement of the file. We make all our software.
Hi Simon,
We are trying to provide a third option. At the moment if someone wanted the well crafted album you speak of then they could either pay for it or steal it. Many many more people steal than buy. With our way, if you don’t want to or can’t pay (perhaps you just want to try the album before buying to see if you like it) then the artist will still get compensated for their work.
Cheers,
Gareth