Is There Any Company At All Who Won't Launch Their Own Music Download Store?
from the no,-really... dept
Okay, someone make it stop. Last week I mentioned HP’s plans to open their own music download store and wondered if there was any tech company that wasn’t planning their own music download store. Apparently, I was too narrow in my focus. Coca-Cola has announced plans to offer a music download store as well. It’s beginning to feel like the “feature” that everyone wants to add. “Oh yeah, our website has a spinning logo, a store locator, search functionality, customer self-service, and, of course, our own music download store.” Of course, this will be like every other download music store with silly limitations and bad pricing, but that’s the way things go. It’s difficult to see what benefit an outfit like Coke stands to gain. It’s way (way) out of the core competency, and most of these stores have been shown to act as loss leaders for other products (like music players). I’m not sure how music becomes a loss leader for soda. I’m sure there will be many more similar announcements before some sense of sanity is reached, and companies start shutting down or merging all of these download stores into just a few entities. Having all of these separate stores with different restrictions does no good.
Comments on “Is There Any Company At All Who Won't Launch Their Own Music Download Store?”
Yeah, but what are we going to call it?
When all of the dot-com businesses appeared out of nowhere with worthless business plans and failed – it was simple enough to call it the dot-bomb.
When 999 out of 1000 new music services open and fail within the first 6-12 months what are we going to call it?
DRM-bomb?
Music-bomb?
Napster-fallout?
We need to figure this out and soon so I can go register the corresponding domain name…
Is There Any Company At All Who Won't Launch Their
“…shutting down or merging all of these download stores into just a few entities.”.
Mostly Microsoft 😉
Re: Is There Any Company At All Who Won't Launch T
Here it is: Microsoft Windows Server 2004, comes with ActiveMusicServer built in. It’s part of Windows, you see, can’t be removed, so don’t ask. Also it’s The Standard for digital music distribution, see, obviously because just about everybody likes it enough to have it on their computer (Media Player 2004, of course). And it’s the choice the RIAA, too!
Someone please quote me, I’m brilliant.
Re: Re: Is There Any Company At All Who Won't Launch T
Microsoft will make ‘server 2005’ because of the 2+ year cycle.
Office 95 Office 97
Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows 2000
And techdirt hasn’t listed a music service, so not EVERONE has one.
Actually..
I don’t think this is such a horrible idea for Coke… Call me crazy (thanks, Mike, I hear you yelling “crazy”), but I think that Coke *could* implement a music service correctly. I mean, they could revive their whole “teach the world to sing” campaign. If they can stick their logo and ads on a music site that people might actually use, they would get incredible recognition. I don’t know how much they’ll spend on a music offering, but there might be a reasonable amount that would help them keep their marketing edge. I’d like to see the numbers of what a music service would cost them in comparison to their total advertising budget before I scolded them for jumping foolishly into the business. I mean, New Coke was a costly venture, and they still survived that…. A music service can’t be worse than almost killing your main product.
Re: Actually..
So, Mike, when are you launching the Techdirt Music Store?
No Subject Given
How many times have you paid full price for an album to only have a couple of songs that are actually good. Problem with most bands is they have 1 or 2 good songs and the rest are not really good. Paying by the song will encourage bands and record companies to provide more quality albums. I enjoy the fact that I can get songs without wasting my money on the full album.
Apple pitch...
“you don’t want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar[y,] water[ish music], do you?
…oh, wait, now I’m so confused.