NPR: All Things Considered Internet Music Services

" The major record labels have rolled out their much-anticipated subscription music services -- the ones that are supposed to be legitimate alternatives to the free file sharing services spawned by Napster. MusicNet went online last week. Details of the upcoming PressPlay service were officially unveiled today. But they come at a moment when more people than ever -- even more than in Napster's heyday -- are using FREE services."

LA Times Round 2 of Online Music Battle Begins

"When MP3.com Inc. and Napster Inc. made songs available on the Internet without seeking the permission of artists, the world's largest music corporations launched a blistering legal attack to shut them down."

"Now those same corporations are starting to roll out their own online services to great fanfare. And once again, many artists say, no one is asking the musicians whether they want their songs to be included."

The New York Times Tech giants swell Net music chorus
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"The drumbeat beckoning consumers to entertainment-subscription services on the Net grew louder Tuesday as leading media and technology companies introduced products and services."

"The various services and products are designed to entice Internet users, long accustomed to receiving music and entertainment via the Net for free, to choose paid offerings. Whether consumers will buy into the subscription model remains to be seen, given that no-cost music-swapping services popularized by Napster's early success continue to proliferate."

redux [11.29.01]
The New York Times Free Music Service Is Expected to Surpass Napster
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"Data to be released next week is expected to show that the number of people exchanging music simultaneously on the most popular free service, a network called Fast Track, which is based in Amsterdam, now exceeds the use of Napster at its peak.

Webnoize, a research firm, said it expected the figures to show that the number of people typically logged on to Fast Track surpassed 1.57 million; that was the peak level of popularity enjoyed in February this year by Napster, the pioneering free music service that shut down after being sued by the record labels, which accused it of abetting copyright infringement."

News.Com Dutch court cracks down on Kazaa

"A Dutch court on Thursday ordered file-swapping software maker Kazaa to prevent people using its product from engaging in copyright infringement or face thousands of dollars in fines."

""We don't know how the judge wants us to stop copyright infringement," Kazaa attorney Christiaan Alberdinck Thijm told CNET News.com's affiliate in the Netherlands on Thursday. "We feel as if the judge didn't put much time and effort into this part of the verdict.""

redux [09.21.01]
News.Com Rocky financial road awaits file swappers

"Droves of Napster clones are proving that it's still cheap and easy to create file-swapping services under the nose of the entertainment industry--but such ventures promise mostly high risks and little pay for the people behind them.

Even as the U.S. courts have effectively shut down file-trading giant Napster, numerous would-be replacements have taken root. Most hope to avoid legal entanglements and eventually profit on the immense popularity of services that offer free access to popular music, videos and other files."

"Although consumers continue to flock to peer-to-peer services, it's unclear whether large numbers will ever translate into large profits."

BBC Poor outlook for paid-for online music

"As the major record labels prepare to roll out online subscription services, a new report suggests young people are not yet ready to pay to download music from the internet.

Researchers found that 62% would continue to access MP3 music files for free and had no plans to stop."

redux [07.24.01]
Wired News What If Napster Was the Answer?

""In some respects, this brings the labels back to square one," Mooradian said.

One label executive agreed, saying, "I fear we're getting into a game of whack-a-mole, where we sue Napster, then we sue Aimster and so on and so on."

"If (the labels) killed Napster -- and that's 'if,'" said Johnny Deep, CEO of Aimster, "they killed their only chance of a viable online strategy. Napster was easy enough to use, and there was loyalty and confidence in the brand. That's something the labels can't recreate, even if they spend a hundred million.""

redux [07.20.01]
The New York Times With Napster Down, Its Audience Fans Out
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"The record industry's largely successful effort to cripple Napster, the online music site turned social phenomenon, has left it facing something potentially worse: a new generation of music-swapping sites, more numerous and much harder to police.

Figures to be released today show that a precipitous drop in Napster's traffic over the last several weeks has been paralleled by marked growth in more than half a dozen less centralized services. Those services, some of them based overseas, not only welcome millions of Napster refugees, but also complicate matters for the industry by scattering a once-concentrated audience, and relying on technology that may be insulated from legal attack."

Salon Revenge of the file-sharing masses!

"It didn't have to be this way, of course. The music industry has had the opportunity for several years now to begin offering reasonably priced access to comprehensive catalogs of digital music across the Internet, sweetened with special premium additions for fans willing to pay even more. Such a service could satisfy the hunger of millions of people for ready access to new and old music while preserving a reasonable income for the artists who make that music. Fear has stayed the industry's hand -- fear that today's unconscionably high CD prices can't be sustained; fear that the many layers of middlemen in today's industry might find themselves out of jobs; fear that the superstar system couldn't survive such a change; fear of the unknown.

The industry's paralysis is a tragedy for anyone who believes that artists should be compensated for their work as well as for anyone who loves music, period. But it's clear that the record labels would rather sue than find a sensible rapprochement with the new world of digital distribution."

redux [05.02.00]
Infoworld Napster sends a message to music industry: 'Your customers aren't happy'

""The Recording Industry Association of America wants to educate consumers with the message, "Artists deserve to be compensated -- artists won't make music if they can't make money." I can only imagine the public service announcements with multimillionaire artists pleading for their right to a seventh Porsche in the driveway.

There's no rationalization for piracy; it is what it is. However, rampant music piracy online indicates that the music industry's distribution and pricing model is out of whack with what people want. The problem isn't the piracy; the problem is unhappy customers.

And the music industry had better do something about it. This is a dinosaur moment -- with the big rock looming overhead -- where the music industry needs to ask itself how it will adapt."