Microsoft, MTV team up on music service
posted Dec 13th 2005 2:15PM
Bill Gates wants his MTV. Microsoft announced today that
it will be teaming up with the music channel to create a new online music service, which will be integrated into an
upcoming version of the Windows Media Player. Rather than leverage any equity that the MTV (or even MSN) brand might
offer, the new service will also mark the launch of a new brand, undoubtedly created to prove how hip and happening
Microsoft and the M really are: Urge. (Hey, at least it beats "the iTunes Music Store.") We're not sure what this means
for Microsoft's deal with Real Networks to promote Real's Rhapsody service, though we suspect that the fact that
Microsoft paid Real $300 million as part of that deal might help soften any blow Real might feel from being urged, er,
edged aside.
Nice Dire Straits Reference
So basically the only thing that's changed is that these two have finally given a swirling vortex of suck a corporate name? Great.
The 'M' in 'MTV' means Music?
I am ipod owner but I am loving the new competition coming from Creative and now Microsoft.
Intense competition in the marketplace is always good for us consumers...see the price of HDTV's this past year
When I see the word "Urge" the first thing that comes to mind is urinate. But that's just me.
What the hell does MTV know about music?
bet it won't be Mac compatible in any sense of the word
Sad so sad to see such a desperate attempt to gain a 0.01% market share. Here's a clue Microshit: find something else to do. You know.. INNOVATE...something I imagine you will never know the meaning of. As for MTV, what more proof does one need that these organizations are managed by people that could really really really need divine intervention.
What does MTV know about music? All this means is that on all those crappy MTV reality shows, you are going to see the contestants walk around with a WMA player instead of iPods.
MTV is a Music Television channel right? Does this mean something more exciting: VIDEO! And MTV have got a huge catalogue and a lot of muscle - maybe this is the influence MS was looking for over the record labels.
Are these mindless drones that in love with everything Steve Jobs boasts about? Hes the same guy that bashed an mp3 player for having a "tortured display" and then released something with NO DISPLAY! and the lemmings praised him to no end..
the itunes music store is clearly getting a spanking and people are still so stupid to back it up. what does the ipod do? not much. why do people buy them?
Because they make them look more acceptable as social peons.
Dear #7: INNOVATE? Do you think Apple knows how to innovate? They didn't come up with the online music store or the mp3 player. They stole one from eMusic and the other from Creative and then just power-struggled their way into deals with major players in the music industry. When you get to be as big as Microsoft or Apple you don't waste your time with innovation, you use your 800 pound gorilla weight to infilltrate and take the candy away from the defenseless babies...
yeah, please don't ever call it a "music channel"
MTV is crap.
Alan,
It's actually an Mtv reference. Pop celebrities used to scream "I want my Mtv" as an early series of commercials for the network. Dire Straits picked it up as a pop culture reference for their song. Coincidentally, one of the celebrities who did the original promo was Sting (as part of the Police) -- he sings the hook on "Money for Nothing".
Does anyone believe if MS was the one leading the digital music market and not Apple, MS would be teaming-up (or holding hands) with Real, Napster, MTV etc....?
This is their plan B, team-up with everyone in the universe and push WMA down our trought.
That's some spanking - sure :))
What does an iPod do? It plays music. What do you think it would do - make your supper for you?
#11: Fair enough, but did #7 (actually, I think that post is #8 now) say anything about Apple? What can't someone just bash Microsoft and keep Apple out of it?
I'm hoping there will finally be a viable alternative to iTMS video downloads. I want a place that I can cheaply buy music videos and TV shows for my non-Apple pvp.
MTV lost all cred points ages ago -- probably around the time they cancelled 120 Minutes. Even MTV2 is shit now. If anything, they're pulling a Nintendo and cashing in on all the thirty-something's nostalgia.
At least Nintendo is still cool, though.
Fishes,
narco.
"Because they make them look more acceptable as social peons."
Kind of like all the people that use windows?
Oh wait, maybe not, since the iPod isn't a shoddy product.
"the itunes music store is clearly getting a spanking" - overratedidiot
Numbers in your irrational universe must mean the opposite of what they do here. Let's see, 80%+ of the online music download business....yep, that's quite a spanking indeed. Let's hope MS unloads a real buttkicking on Apple and pushes iTunes to 95%.
So many Apple haters out there that just can't bear to see their beloved Microsoft (and its eager hardware minions, i.e. Creative, etc.) being thrashed by Apple in new markets. The sad part is they can't express their hate with any glimmer of intelligence. Most the anti-iPod rants are below moronic.
MTV + Microsoft = I'm feeling the Urge to laugh...
Hoo My God! All this Apple Lovers...
I own a Ipod, but I do not like Apple stuff.
So you hate WMA for what reason? ACC also have DRM, and where can you play it? on your Ipod and on your PC, that's it! WMA you can play on all the others Digital players, DVD players, on your car, streo and many others... WMA is much more opend minded than ACC.
Apple only alows to sell ACC on their store and no where else, this does not happends with microsoft WMA (this MTV partership won't be the only one with Microsoft).
Hoo and just to remember Apple had not invented the Ipod (they buyed the rights from some another). Creative made the fist HDD mp3 player more than a year before apple.
I hope Creative comes with better players, they need to show album art and lyrics as well.
all this proves is the desparation of the Big 5 record companies to get out from under the thumb of Apple.
You see, they used to fear and loathe MTV... and Microsoft. Apparently, they're so scared that Apple pwns the online music market to the point that they will do anything (including something totally silly like this) to break the monopoly that Apple has on online music.
Before everyone starts complaining - MS's monopoly was created via bullying their business parters (Packard Bell, Dell, Acer, and anyone else that's ever made a PC) that closed out everyone else. Apple's iPod + iTMS has come about because people wanted what Apple is selling.
When Apple starts bullying music companies how they are going to do business with other people, then Apple will be "Big Bad Monopolist". But for the record, laughing at your business partners does not constitute "bullying" in the strictest sense of the word.
Whether you use AAC or WMA, just strip the fucking DRM, convert to MP3, and quit your glorified bitching.
Mark (#17)
Check out 'DTV'
http://www.dtvmac.com/
ACC does not have DRM nor is it proprietary to Apple. ACC is licensed to Apple by a third party which happily licenses ACC to other vendors including Sony and Nokia.
ACC is superior in audio quality to WMA. As for Apple's own DRM, it's a shame we live in that world right now. But it's the music industry, not Apple, that has pushed for tighter restrictions.
Creative did have an MP3 player first. And it looked nothing like the iPod. It was round like a CD player and was heavy with a tiny screen that you could barely read what song was playing.
Apple introduced the iPod and made the whole thing much easier to use. The interface and design of the product with the scroll wheel was innovative. They understand how people use devices and make it easy for users to understand. Most technology companies don't understand people and make products that reflect that.
Hey my Archos player has an FM Tuner!
Yeah? How do you get songs on it?
I don't know I'm trying to figure that out.
I hadn't realised MTV still existed....
with the kind of money MS has, mr.gates can afford to do just about anything he desires. If he happen to work with two rivals -so be it. they will both make money and be happy with nice paycheck/investments from MS.
Damn it feels good to be MS.
"I own a Ipod, but I do not like Apple stuff." #21
Huh?
Who needs MTV? They suck.
Get Sirius Satellite Radio....they know music, and its not the same crap played over and over till you just wanna kill yourself when you hear it. lol.
We give Microsoft a lot of crap. The bigger the target the easier to sling mud. They are making the bucks because they are trying to sell the dreams. The dreams of an easy to use computer. (Go windows XP - anyone who has actually used linux will know what I mean) Sure others have done it first, sure others sell music online, but get it right and you have a winner. PS: Did you know the Gates' donates more money and time to preventing desease in the third world than the US government? Its good to have leaders, not monkeys, huh?
You guys are missing the point of this announcment. Simply, Job's came out and said no to charging more that $.99 a song and the record companies (Time Warner, BMG) cried fowl. So, by teaming up with MS and MTV, your kid that wants the latest teenie bopper song he or she saw on MTV can download it... at the cost of up to $4 if its popular in WMA DRM format. You could just buy the CD for $10-12 when its onsale, but if its popular using this new model the Record labels are spouting, you will be shelling closer to $24 a CD (if it is popular).
-E
Let's all wait to see the service before we rip on it, OK? MS is teaming up with someone who they think knows music...whether or not MTV knows music is another debate. There are a lot worse companies to partner with on a "music store". But competition is good, and a well planned music store will provide another option to people who choose to buy or subscribe to music online.
I, for one, have not yet found the "perfect" music store.
MTV died in 1989, Long live the V-J
Windows media is a POS!!!!
See http://www.macdailynews.com/ for more on this story!
MTV died in 1989, Long live the V-J
Windows media is a POS!!!!
See http://www.macdailynews.com/ for more on this story!
If MTV's track record is any indication -- from their web site to MTV overdrive to pretty much anything they offer online -- there won't be a chance in hell this will work with anything but Windows. Macs are totally shut out of MTV's online offerings when it comes to video, which is ridiculous and short sighted.
MTV + Microsoft?
Woohoo, Real World podcasts in DRMed WMA. Music? Maybe songs from whatever boy band, bubblehead blonde, and gansta rapper the music labels are pushing this week. Forget about any depth in the music catalog. Expect singles to cost more than on iTunes, be available for a month or two, drop to $0.89 for a week and then disappear from the catalog.
And you know MS will choose a format that locks out the iPod and claim "choice" in an effort to sell players that license MS technology. Nevermind the vast marketshare iPods have; rather than court iPod owners, they'll try to push their own proprietary format. (But it's not really proprietary because more than one DAP manufacturer uses it. See? It's open. It's choice. Choice is good.)
And expect either a Windows only software client, or a web app that only works with Windows IE. Even a Flash based front end would be better than whatever they dream up.
Rag on Apple all you want, but they developed an easy to use end-to-end product (iTunes + iPod) that did one thing well (no FM tuner, no voice recording, just play music). They started small - Mac only, got things tuned up nicely, and went on to dominate. Now that they've established their brand, they are slowly adding features - photos, now video.
I think MS+MTV could give Apple a run if they:
a) Offer songs in better quality than Apple. Use 300kbps as the default quality. Offer lower quality versions for cheaper, and near or better than CD quality for a bit more.
b) Really work the music video angle. Apple may have a headstart here, but MTV may just have the branding power to take the lead as THE music video source. They should have the back catalog, but rights may be a big sticking point.
c) Capitalize on the 80s nostalgia. The 80s saw the birth of the music video. Put all the cheesy early videos on there you can. Let users rate and comment on them. Build a community around mocking/loving that old stuff.
d) And as much as I hate the current MTV, they should leverage the MTV programming. Yes, podcasts from all their current shows should be there. *shudder*
- Jasen.
#35 Todd--
yes, not to mention Firefox...
>>31. Posted Dec 13, 2005, 5:55 PM ET by B
Who needs MTV? They suck.
Get Sirius Satellite Radio....they know music, and its not the same crap played over and over till you just wanna kill yourself when you hear it. lol.<<
Agreed.
Plays for Sure*
-pinch nostrils shut as you read this aloud-
The combination of the world's largest software company and
the world's largest hip TV channel will allow URGE to achieve a
unique synergy. Combining MTV's brand recognition among
12-22 year olds and Microsoft's superior Plays For Sure DRM
technology will yield massive market penetration into the tween
and teen market. URGE will leverage MTV's presence in teen
bedrooms and Plays For Sure will leverage Microsoft, Samsung,
Dell, and Creative's combined marketing dollars and expertise.
In summary, if Microsoft is Paul McCartney and MTV is Michael Jackson, URGE will go down in music history as a major success on the order of "Ebony and Ivory"... ;-)
* Except for the 80% of you using iTunes
#27 "Hey my Archos player has an FM Tuner!
Yeah? How do you get songs on it?
I don't know I'm trying to figure that out."
Considering most (if not all) Archos players are mass storage device compliant, you really have to be a moron if you can't figure out how to get songs on the player.
#41
My boss bought his wife an Archos Jukebox player for Christmas 2 years ago. He tried and tried and tried to get music on it before finally coming to me and asking me for help.
I went into his office and starting trying to sync up his library with his Archos player a la iTunes with iPod. I could not figure it out. And I am by no means a computer novice. It took me 30 minutes to discover where I was to go, a screen wholly seperate from the main library screen, before I could get some songs onto the device. And then I couldn't recreate the steps for my boss so he could use it so we had to go through the whole thing again.
I know you're going to want to flame me here but you'd be missing the point. Why should I fight with the software? Tech companies suck at making it easy. Getting music from iTunes to the iPod is one of the easiest computer tasks.
#42 I ain't gonna flame no one....
But do realise you're contradicting yourself- The whole purpose of Mass Storage devices (other than making it incredibly easy to transfer files to a device) is so that you DON'T have to fight with bloatware (like iTunes).
Anyone who knows how to copy files from and off a flash drive can use a mass storage mp3 device like Archos, period.
I meant #44
Apparently wmp11 will be required to use this service. Does this mean there will be a new drm technology too, i.e. drm11? Or will wmp11 use drm10 technology?
I already had to replace my drm9 player with a drm10 player to use the new music rental services like Yahoo Unlimited. I don't want to have to do that again.
Is it possible that Microsoft could eventually connect their new music service with the Xbox 360? The idea of streaming subscription tracks directly through the Xbox 360 sounds pretty nice.
What happened to my Music Television. Evil.