Bose SoundDock 10 gets reviewed, probably not worth the pricetag
by Laura June 
posted Nov 7th 2009 at 9:35PM
DigitalMusic posts
Napster going DRM-free
by Barb Dybwad posted Jan 7th 2008 at 9:07PM
They had already been considering it and now it's official -- Napster will be converting its entire downloads catalogue to 100% DRM-free MP3s (innit funny how things come full circle?) in Q2 of this year. With all track and album sales offered exclusively in MP3 format, the company obviously hopes to attract a certain crowd heretofore locked out of its business model. While the subscription service will remain a core focus, Napster execs are surely hoping to see an uptick in their direct download sales when those teeming iPod and iPhone hordes come knocking second quarter.Engadget founder Peter Rojas's new digital music site RCRD LBL launches
by Ryan Block posted Nov 15th 2007 at 12:42PM
A joint venture with Downtown Records (who retain such acts as Gnarles Barkley and Cold War Kids), RCRD LBL represents a completely fresh take on the distribution structure of music, offering all-digital, all-free music for streaming or download without DRM. Yeah, seriously, free, unrestricted, legal music downloads. RCRD LBL's catalogue already has music from partner labels like Warp and Dim Mak, too, with tracks from a few artists you may have heard from like Mos Def, Bloc Party, and The Stills.
Of course, anyone who knows Pete knows he's one of the few people in this world fanatic enough about both technology and music to pull something like this off. So feel free to head on over to RCRD LBL and show some love -- and try not to blow up their servers too badly, ok? It's only day one for these guys.
-Ryan
P.S. -Oh, and no, this doesn't mean we're letting Peter go so easily. We've managed to retain his services a while longer, so those worried about missing out on some of his amazing and instantly recognizable writing need not worry, because he's still a part of team Engadget.
Universal, Warner, and EMI to sell music on flash drives
by Nilay Patel posted Oct 18th 2007 at 11:46AM
The major record labels' ongoing fixation with physical media continues on, as Universal, EMI, and Warner have each announced plans to sell music preloaded on flash drives. Universal says the move is "aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be," but that "people still want to own a physical product." Yeah, too bad that physical product is a DAP. Predictably, the $10 flash drives will cost twice as much as normal CD singles but contain additional content -- just like that ridiculous "ringle" concept we just heard about, only with more plastic and manufacturing involved. There's no word on what format the music will be in or what the DRM will be, but it's not like it really matters, since no one is going to buy these anyway. No word on when we'll see this Stateside, but UK teenagers can expect to be patronized by the record labels sometime in the next few months.[Via Pocket-lint]
Nokia adds Microsoft's PlayReady DRM to upcoming devices
by Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 6th 2007 at 10:23AM
Nokia appears to be making some interesting moves as of late. Following rumors that the company will hazard a foray into the world of digital music sales, the Finnish mobile manufacturer has signed a deal with Microsoft to utilize its PlayReady DRM scheme. The technology, which is file-format-independent, is specifically targeted for use with mobile devices, and is intended to strengthen "security" on a wide variety of content such as music, videos, games, ringtones, and images. The DRM is backwards compatible with the existing Windows Media 10 file management, and will be implemented on upcoming S60 and Series 40 Nokia devices beginning in 2008. It seems at least somewhat possible that this arrangement could be related to the recent whisperings of Nokia's iTunes-esque plans, as DRM has already been hinted at for the supposed forthcoming service. Perhaps on August 29th all will be revealed -- but only Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo knows for sure.Switched On: Lala makes the Web the latest iPod accessory
by Ross Rubin posted Jun 5th 2007 at 6:53PM
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:
When Lala.com launched just last year, the company raised eyebrows looking to build a business around trading of compact discs for a dollar per trade while expecting most of its revenue to come from sales of new CDs. The company claims that it actually reached profitability in its core business, but it realized that exposing members to lists of each others' CDs wasn't enough. Soon it added Internet radio by acquiring terrestrial-turned-Internet broadcaster WOXY.com.
Lala has dismissed concerns that it would facilitate piracy as members ripped and flipped with the argument that the real problem that music faces today is the war for time and money versus other media. Consumers are inundated with cable channels, YouTube, RSS, DVDs, video games, Web sites and those clever Engadget columns that you know you should really submit to Digg more often.
To this war, Lala is bringing two major weapons which brings the site determined to disrupt squarely into the realm of digital music. Not only will the company offer free music library hosting and downloading directly to one's iPod, but it is moving to offer free streaming of on-demand libraries from all four major labels, starting with Warner Music.
Lala will enable any members to store their entire digital music collection on its site to stream on demand. Of course, Lala is not the first to have this idea -- MP3.com tried it in 1998 and earned the scorn of the RIAA, which forced the startup to nix the idea. Nowadays, several sites provide music locker services (often for a fee) for those wiling to upload their music files, which can be a lengthy proposition for those with large libraries.
Circuit City, Napster team up for subscription-based music service
by Darren Murph posted Apr 20th 2007 at 10:26AM
[Via Yahoo]
Digital FAIR USE bill introduced to amend DMCA
by Darren Murph posted Feb 28th 2007 at 1:43PM
Ah, the day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived -- well, sort of. Yeah, it is still a bill, but it's a refreshing start on a long overdue amendment. While content guardians (we're looking your way, MPAA / RIAA) have done their fair share of beating around the issue and insisting that DRM-laced content was the only way to go, consumers haven't exactly been thrilled about such limitations since day one. In yet another glorious case of red and blue coming together for the good of mankind, Rich Boucher (D-Va.) and John Dolittle (R-Calif.) introduced a breath of fresh air they call FAIR USE, or Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship. The idea, of course, is to simply "make it easier for digital media consumers to use the content they buy" by amending the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; according to the duo, the DMCA simply "goes too far by dramatically tilting the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the public's right to fair use." Boucher further substantiates his case for the most down-to-earth politician of all time by suggesting that if the DMCA remains unadulterated, "individuals will be less willing to purchase digital media" due to the unacceptable restrictions that come along with it. We'd ask for an amen, but we don't want to set off any minor earthquakes.[Thanks, Kevin M.]
Major record labels pondering DRM-free downloads?
by Darren Murph posted Jan 25th 2007 at 10:59AM
Details are admittedly scant on this one, and we must remember that these disclosures are coming out of France, but nevertheless, word on the street is that "at least one of the four major record companies could move toward the sale of unrestricted digital files in the MP3 format within the coming months." Reportedly, executives of several anonymous technology companies that are meeting at Midem are pondering the move to unrestricted digital music downloads, which just years ago wasn't even a remote possibility. As expected, industry pressures are likely at the forefront here, as digital music sales, although 80-percent stronger than the year before, grew slower than they did in 2005 and failed to compensate for the decline in physical disc sales. Of course, we already knew that EMI Music gave (somewhat) of a green light to the idea, and VirginMega already has the groundwork laid for DRM-free MP3s to be loosed in France, but unrestricted, impartial major label music files flying around on US shores would certainly be a shift from days past. Granted, a few insiders are quite skeptical that these whispers will lead to actual results, and advise to not count on seeing DMR-free tunes for sale here anytime soon. Welcome to the "wait and see" game, folks.Sony unveils CPF-IX001 wireless streaming music system
by Evan Blass posted Jul 19th 2006 at 9:07AM
Update: Thanks to Christopher over at ATRACLife for hooking us up with a pic.
Genus' SLM radio does DAB and MP3
by Evan Blass posted Jul 13th 2006 at 1:45PM
UK DAB enthusiasts now have yet another way to listen to those sweet digital broadcasts on-the-go thanks to a new portable radio from Genus; and as if that alone weren't exciting enough, the so-called SLM also includes an FM tuner and SD slot for rocking out to MP3s. Actually, there's really nothing here that we haven't seen before from manufacturers like Pure Digital and MPeye, but it can never hurt to have another product on the market driving down prices, right? One feature you're not getting with this unit -- besides the inability to record OTA programming -- is DRM support, so if you want to load up your PlaysForSure- or FairPlay-protected tracks, you'll need to strip out the copy protection with one of those handy pieces of software first (not that we'd ever encourage that sort of behavior, of course). It looks like you can pick up the OLED-equipped SLM right away from either Curry's or directly through Genus, and at $182, it's pretty reasonably priced -- though you'll have to shell out more loot if you're in need of a blank SD card for storing tunes.[Via Shiny Shiny]
College students shunning free music subscription services
by Evan Blass posted Jul 7th 2006 at 11:05AM
It's the rare college student who will turn down free anything -- free food, free booze, and free love are all top priorities for the modern scholar -- so we were more than a little surprised to learn that those online music subscriptions being offered gratis by a number of colleges haven't really taken off like one would assume. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, the services from Napster and company have proven so unpopular that many schools are dropping the program altogether after only a year or two, although the RIAA claims that the number of participating campuses will actually increase "pretty significantly" this fall. Even if that's true, it's not clear why students at newly-subscribed schools would behave any differently than ones who already have access to the free tunes and still choose alternative distribution methods -- most notably the iTunes music store and the still-popular P2P networks. Ultimately it seems to be the services' many restrictions that are turning off the college crowd -- tracks can't always be burned to disc or transferred to a DAP, and they also disappear after four years -- and the fact that students today treasure their iPods even more than their precious cans of beer only makes non-FairPlay content that much more undesirable.[Via TechDirt]
Tower Records debuts digital download service
by Evan Blass posted Jun 26th 2006 at 2:12PM
Although there are already numerous options on the market for filling up your non-iPod DAP with digital content, Tower Records has managed to find what it thinks is an untapped niche of music aficionados who are looking for both better sound quality and more variety than current solutions are offering. Enter Tower.com/Digital, a Puretracks-powered service going live today that company executives say will leverage the experience and industry connections of the nationwide retail chain to give music fans access to a "broad and deep catalog" with tunes not available from other sites -- even if the other sites offer more total tracks than Tower's 1.2 million. Plus, the WMA-formatted downloads are said to be encoded at a higher bit rate than songs from competing services, and can be burned to disc for playing on "many existing CD players." Despite their supposedly higher sound quality, Tower.com/Digital (they've got to rethink that name) tracks will still sell for the usual 99 cents, with whole albums also adhering to generally-accepted pricing and going for $9.99.[Via Cnet]
RIAA declares music piracy "contained"
by Evan Blass posted Jun 13th 2006 at 10:15AM
If we're to believe RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol's take on the current state of digital piracy, it would appear that enough consumers have been swayed by the music industry's carrot-and-stick approach of cheap songs and highly-publicized lawsuits that illegal downloading, although not eliminated, has finally been "contained." Even though physical album sales are still declining, Bainwol claims that the rapid growth of legal digital downloads -- up 77% in the past year -- balance out the loss, proving that iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and the like are offering compelling services that have encouraged folks to give up their lives of crime. Bainwol certainly paints a rosy picture here, and while we'd love to imagine that our fellow Netizens have suddenly and inexplicably developed a group conscience, what seems much more likely is that higher bandwidth and the advent of the torrent have simply turned former music pirates from the RIAA's nightmare into the MPAA's.Dual's PlaysForSure-friendly XDRM7710 head unit
by Evan Blass posted May 23rd 2006 at 11:35AM
