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Sony PlayStation Exploring Cloud Music Service

Rumors picked up by cNet and expanded on by PlayStationLifestyle.net point to Sony seriously exploring an extensive music service for its popular PlayStation gaming platform.

"Cloud" appears to be the name of the possibel service with sources suggesting a totally revamped device and Sony talking to but not yet cutting final deals with other major labels.  PSL imagines a music streaming service and cNet points to a download store suggesting that Sony may still be exploring which format PlayStation users crave. Either way, recent public statements from Sony executives suggest that any moves would be part of open platform with other devices as well.

Video: A Quick Look At New Zune HD

via Engadget

Zune Adds HD Radio & Video, Xbox Compatibility

Microsoft announced that it will open its Zune video service to the Xbox LIVE this Fall. Microsoft also unvieled its newest portable media player, the Zune HD. Designed to compete with the popular iPod Touch, the Zune HD combines built-in an mp3 and video players, an HD radio receiver, HD video output, an OLED touch screen, Wi-Fi and an internet browser.

More details:

Windows 7 Adds Music & Media Remote Access

Microsoft's much anticipated updated pc operating system Windows 7 will include the ability to stream a personal music and video collection stored on your PC from any other computer.  Dubbed Remote Media Access, the new feature will reportedly require logging via Windows Live ID - a requirement design  to calm any "fair use" fears of rights holders.

Could a mobile version be next?

Apple Gains Driven By iPhone & iPod Sales

Financial results for Apple's last quarter showed a 15% profit increase. Sales grew at a much slower pace than last year, but beat analyst expectations. International sales accounted for 46% of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple sold 11 million iPods during the quarter, representing 3% growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 3.79 million representing 123% growth.  The  2.22 million Macintosh computers sold during the quarter represent a 3% percent decline. No iTunes sales figured we're offered.

Limited Edition Prince Opus iPod Just $2100

Trent Reznor may have perfected the art of up-selling to the uber-fan and Topspin may be bringing the concept to the musical middle class, but Prince has just taken this new music monetization strategy to the next level with the release of his new limited edition 21 NightsOpus iPod. The stats:

• $2100
• 950 copies
• Custom iPod
• Preloaded with a 40 min limited edition film of his 21 nights stand of London concerts

If $2100 is not rich enough for you, you can participate in a private auction for Number One in the series which comes with a special alligator binding and an iPod encrusted with 5 "rare purple diamonds" and 21 "round brilliant cut diamonds".  Recession?  What recession?

Apple's New Talking iPod Shuffle

Apple's new iPod shuffle is nearly half of the size of the previous model, and its talks to you speaking song titles, artists and playlist names with the press of a button. This third generation iPod shuffle has an aluminum design, is smaller than a AA battery, holds a 1,000 songs and has its controls located on the earphone cord.

Microsoft May Abandon The Zune

Recent by comments by Microsoft executives have led to speculation that Microsoft may abandon the Zune.

Microsoft CEO Ballmer declared at CES that consumers increasingly were moving away from one task devices like the Zune towards smart phones while at the same time stating flatly that no Zune phone was in the works.

My ugly brown Zune
just got uglier.

Microsoft president of the Entertainment and Devices Division Robbie Bach told the press, "We have already started to see some flattening and even declining in the stand-alone MP3 player market. I think you'll see that continue. As phones get more capable, as battery life gets better, people's desire to have their music with them along with their phone is certainly going to go up."

How To Fix A Broken Zune 30

If you're 30G Zune is frozen your one of a million suffering from the same problem (read full frozen Zune story). Fortunately the fixing a frozen Zune 30 easy is

Follow these steps to fix your 30G Zune :

1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good...

Microsoft's 30G Zune Suffers Massive "2K9" Failure

UPDATED: New Year's Eve morning almost a million 30G Zune owners found their mp3 players frozen at the start up screen. Dubbed by some online "Zune 2K9" and "Z2K" in reference to the feared Y2K turn of the century computer programming flaw, Microsoft has acknowledged the problem but offered no immediate fix.

I first noticed that my own Zune, which normally sits docked in a charging cradle with speakers on our kitchen counter, had turned itself on, but was not responding to my repeated attempts to operate or turn off the device.

"Customers with 30-GB Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware," admits Microsoft said on its Zune support site. "We're aware of the problem and are working to correct it. The Zune Social might be slow or inaccessible." An emailed statement also acknowledged the problem, "We are actively working now to isolate the issue and develop a solution to address it. We will keep customers informed on next steps via the support page on zune.net."

The massive freeze up on a holiday weekend will only hurt Microsoft Zune's efforts to overcome the dominance of Apple's iPod which controls 70% of the portable player market. Message boards are buzzing with thousands of disgruntled customers posting message like this one on Micorsoft's forum, "Zune 30 white line of death, more like in a coma I guess." More than a dozen YouTube videos chronicle and make fun of the meltdown. Watch two of the most popular broken Zune videos including the wonderfully titled "The Day the 30G Zune Stood Still" after the jump below.

UPDATES:

• How To Fix A Broken Zune 30
• Official Microsoft Zune Press Release And Statement

Official Microsoft Zune Press Release And Statement

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used).  The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue:

Zune Cuts Prices, Taps Common For Ad

As part of its ongoing struggle to capture market share, Microsoft's Zune has cut prices.

• 16 GB Zune $179 / iPod $199
• 8 GB Zune $139 / iPod $149
• 4 GB: Zune $99 / no 4G iPod available

The company has also tapped hip hop star Common for a slick new commercial (Gizmodo via Daily Swarm) and after the jump check out another rather strange Zune ad created on spec that will almost certainly never air.

SanDisk slotMusic: Do We Need These Little Things?

The need to be attached to your computer to download music into your player is a pain (unless of course you do it over the air.) CD's are bulky (unless you rip them). But are these really problems in need of a solution - particularly a solution that is an entirely new format requiring an entirely new player?

SanDisk apparently thinks so and with its Sansa slotMusic microSD format and player they attempt to deliver an alternative. Let me admit that I have not spent any time with a player (if Sansa wants to send me one I promise a followup review), but I do know microSD cards. They are about the size of a nickle and just as easy to loose. The player looks tiny as well and at $20 is a real bargain when compared almost any mp3 player.  But here's the catch - there's no internal memory. 

It's often been said that the music industry was saved by the CD. Everyone who had a warn out album bought it again on CD.  slotMusic might be be cool for some, but it doesn't feel like a savior.

slotMusic debut artist line-up:

Can You Hear Me Now? iPods Cause Ear Damage

EU scientists sounded the alarm yesterday about the dangers of using digital music players, warning that listening to them too long and at too high a volume can cause permanent hearing loss. They found that  5-10% of those who listen to MP3 players for more than an hour a day weekly at a high volumes risk permanent hearing loss.

They study says that 184 tp 246 million portable audio devices had been sold over the last years, including 124-165 million MP3 players.  That means that between 2.5 million and 10 million people are at risk. The panel found that people who listen for only 5 hours a week with a volume above 89 decibels...

Big Changes For Zune?

Late last week Microsoft Zune users received notice that the entire online Zune system would be down for a full 48 hours starting today. That's an eternity in the online world and coming just prior to the holiday shopping season, it hints at a major effort to re-tool what has been only a marginally successful product.

UPDATE: The Xbox Live site is down and a merger of the two sites is expected.  (Thanks to Hypebot reader Matt for the tip.) Zune's email read:

The Zune service will be down for scheduled maintenance on Monday, September 29, 2008 from 12:01am Pacific Time, for up to 48 hours. During the downtime, Zune Social, the forums on Zune.net, and all of Zune Marketplace will be offline.

Load2Mobile Turns Any Cell Into An MP3 Player

Michael Robertson's MP3Tunes has launched a free service Load2Mobile which enables wireless upload of cell optimized mp3's to any phone.  Here's how it works:

Apple Refreshes iPods And iTunes Adds "Genius"

In preparation for the holiday sales season Apple tweaked its iPod product line:

• 160G iPod is out replaced at the top of the line with a sleeker 120G model
• a new taller and thinner Nano
• Three new IPod Touch models: an 8-gigabyte for $229; a 15G @ $299 and a 32 GB model for $399

iTunes 8 software also became available yesterday.  The major addition is a Pandora like music recommendation feature dubbed Genius.  Tell Genius that Over The Rhine suits your mood and it generates a playlist from your library that includes them and other similar sounding acts. See some video highlights of Steve Job;s presentation after the jump.

Zune Upgrades Wireless, Adds FM Tagging.

In a presumptive strike against pending announcements by Apple, Microsoft will upgrade its Zune portable media player to enable wireless downloads and streaming. Free software and firmware updates will also provide the ability to tag and purchase songs directly from the built-in FM radio, wirelessly access the Zune Marketplace and tap into interactive, personalized music recommendations as part of the Zune Pass subscription program.

Zune is also expanding its lineup with 16GB and 120GB capacities as well as blue-on-silver and all-black color schemes. The new features will begin rolling out on Sept. 16th.

Dell Downplays MP3 Player, Broader Strategy Hinted

Dell is downplaying earlier reports that they are reentering the mp3 player market with a WiFi enabled device. "We have not announced that we are going to be selling an MP3 player," the spokesman told TechWeb. "We are looking into the possibility of coming up with different content avenues that can be shared across multiple devices built by Dell."

The devices could include Dell manufactured desktops, notebooks, mobile devices and "possibly an MP3 player," the spokesman said. "We're considering all of our options."  Integration between devices an between download store and devices has been a key consumer complaint as a plethora of manufactures continue to release music delivery products and devices that don't work together easily.

Dell Planning New Wi-Fi MP3 Player

Others including Dell have tried before and failed to create an eco-system to compete with the iTunes/iPod juggernaut.  But Dell says they're going to take another crack at it with a new player that could be available by September.

This time Dell says its integration will be seamless. Thanks to software it aquired when it bought Zing, Dell says it sub- $100 Wi-Fi enabled player will let users download and organize music and movies from various online sources.

Qbox Indexes Music Of Social Web

SINGLE PLAYER DRAWS FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES

With tens of millions of users, social networking sites have become a destinations for music discovery. But they limit music search to their own sites, are largely browser-dependent, and offer limited listening and bookmarking options. Qbox eliminates these boundaries.

Now in beta, Qbox indexes the music on MySpace, YouTube and Bebo and empowers users to search, organize, and listen to the entire catalog of music available through a single point of access.

Qbox is an integrated hybrid desktop/web application,... 

Op-Ed: Jon Webster, CEO Music Managers Forum

IN SUPPORT OF A UK I-POD TAX

Music Manager Forum CEO Jon Webster responds to my commentary last week critical of a proposed UK tax on manufacturers whose devices  enable  format shifting - tracks copied from one device to another including for personal use.

I am one of the members of the UK Music Business Group that proposed licensing device manufacturers who benefit from format shifting.

The music industry contains as well as the major record companies, other labels big and small, self releasing artists, songwriters (with and without publishers), artists, paid session musicians, music producers, studio technicians, collecting societies etc etc.

We, as constituent parts of the music industry, seldom agree but when we do as on licensing and the payment for format shifting it should carry some weight. We effectively are representing everyone in the value chain. And that is our point.

A 20 Million Song iPod Is Coming

Can you imagine carrying virtually every song ever recorded around in your pocket? It's possible thanks to a new compression technology being developed at the University of Rochester that digitally reproduces music in a file nearly 1,000 times smaller than a regular MP3.

"This is essentially a human-scale system of reproducing music," says Mark Bocko, professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-creator of the technology. "Humans can manipulate their tongue, breath, and fingers only so fast, so in theory we shouldn't really have to measure the music many thousands of times a second like we do on a CD. As a result, I think we may have found the absolute least amount of data needed to reproduce a piece of music."

An 80G iPod can currently hold about 20,000 songs. Multiply that by 1000 and the player could hold 20 million songs.  Finding that many tracks may actually be the hard part. The World's Largest Record Collection only boasts 6 million songs and Amazon offers a mere 4,683,676 tracks for sale.

But bring on that ISP flat tax on music. I'm feeling up for the challenge.

Best Of OurDigitalMusic.com

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• Beware Of Spam In Your MP3's
• New Zunes In Stores November 13th
• Find The Best Prices On Music With Biggerboat
• iTunes Lowers Prices On DRM Free Tracks & Adds Indie Product
• 5 Best Places To Buy MP3's
• Start Your Own Fantasy Record Label On Facebook
• Amazon Opens MP3 Download Store

More @ OurDigitalMusic.com

Sony, KIDDI Link Could Challenge Apple

Sony and Japan's second largest mobile carrier KDDI said Tuesday they will enable digital music to be shared between Sony portable and home music players and mobile phones on KDDI's network.

It's the kind of partnership that, if copied by others, could create a major tear in Apple's armor

Starbucks Gives Away 50 Million Tracks For iTunes WiFi Launch

Starbucks is going to give away 50 million tracks as it helps launch the new iTunes wireless service with Apple. From Oct. 2 to Nov. 7 customers in all 10,000 U.S. Starbucks outlets will be handed 1.5 million "Song of the Day" cards each day for redemption on iTunes.  The first song featured is Bob Dylan's "Joker Man."

Starbucks own Hear Music label artists Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell will among the 37 artists featured along with Dave Mathews, Joss Stone, John Mayer, Annie Lennox and Band of Horses.

Starbucks will also start selling iTunes digital release cards for full albums plus bonus material. KT Tunstall's "Drastic Fantastic" and the soundtrack to the film "Into the Wild" featuring music by  Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder will be part of the card debut retailing for $14.99 and $11.99 respectively. Starbucks will also sell limited-edition re-loadable purchase or gift cards that include two free downloads when registered online.

Beginning with 600 stores in NY and Seattle on Oct 2 and then expanding nationally, a Starbucks icon will light up on any iPhone or iTouch when in range of a Starbucks WiFi signal. People with the Apple devices or any laptop with iTunes software can use the WiFi signal free to browse iTunes.

ANALYSIS - The partnership allows Starbucks to further imbed music into its brand experience with limited cost and precious self space.  In return Apple gets a ubiquitous and trusted retail partner as it works to extend its own dominance in the music marketplace.

But could Starbucks and iTunes actually accelerate sluggish download growth?  "We're going to see huge improvement in terms of the amount of tracks downloaded", Ken Lombard  the president of  Starbucks Entertainment told AP.

That may seem a bold prediction, but the majority of downloads already happen over the air in Japan and some other markets. Starbucks and iTunes  could in fact be on the front edge of a wireless download wave that once again transforms the new music business.

Sony To Shut Down Connect Music Service

Given that the service has been a  dud since launch, it should come as no surprise that Sony is shutting down its digital download service Connect.  Use of their own proprietary DRM kept buyers away; so now Sony is adopting Windows media for its new Walkman players.

Buried 17 paragraphs deep in a press release announcing new Walkman players was this:

With these new Walkman players, Sony has widened its digital music environment to support Windows Media technology. This gives customers greater flexibility in their music software approach. As a result, Sony will be phasing out the CONNECT Music Services based on Sony's ATRAC audio format in North America and Europe. Specific timing will vary by region depending on market demand, but will not be before March 2008.  The CONNECT e-book service for the Reader will not be affected.

DRM Free Won't Save The Industry But It Empowers Those Who Can

COMMENTARY: Pundits like Jupiter's David Card and blogger Bob Lefsetz want to be sure that we knowthat Universal and others dropping DRM (see story) won't save the recorded music industry. They're right of course, but they miss the point.

 Two things will save the "record biz" and going DRM free empowers them both.

First, the industry must restore consumer confidence. There is nothing more frustrating and confusing than having the music people purchase be locked up and incompatible. Blame the original Napster. Blame Apple. Blame the labels.  Consumers don't care. If we want them to pay for music then it damnwell better be accessible whenever, wherever and on whatever device they choose. DRM free makes that possible.

The second key to any industry turnaround is experimentation.  DRM free makes the creation of new products and services that enrich the consumer music experience possible.  And designers and manufactures know that what they produce will not be locked out of the iTunes eco-system or kept from any other device or service that has not even been imagined yet.

Bold moves by Universal, EMI Rhapsody, Amazon and others may or may not in themselves save the new music industry, but they enable those who can.

Zune Ramps Up Marketing With Live Nation Promotion

Microsoft is intensifying its Zune marketing efforts with a significant presence at 28 Live Nation concert venues this summer at Zune Spots that encourage consumers to try the players. These "Zune Spots" are converted freight containers that have been "redesigned to bring the brand to life".

A Zune Zoom Away competition sends fans to Live Nation concerts and consumers can download Zune Zone vouchers. The first 50 people to bring the voucher to a Zune Spot will receive VIP treatment at the Zune Zone, a special area at select concerts with private wait staff and Zune lawn chairs.

The Zune Ignition program has also added Ryan Adams and Great Northern to its select roster of artists getting exposure across a wide swath of Microsoft properties.

press release

Napster Warns iPhone Incompatibility Will Hurt Sales But Still Isn't Selling The Compatible Tracks Available

Napster is warning investors that the incompatibility of the tracks it sells with the new iPhone could hurt sales. (InfoWeek)

It seems a weak excuse given that Napster's real problem is incompatibility with 10 million iPods.

Since Napster's woes would be cure as more labels drop DRM; why isn't the download service selling the million plus compatible mp3's that are available from EMI and all of the indies?