Warner -- Engadget

warner posts

Major labels show eagerness to fail with new CMX digital audio format

by Darren Murph posted Aug 11th 2009 at 8:39AM

Let's think about this, shall we? How did Sony's ATRAC format do? How did all those DRM-laced formats fare? Call us zany, but we've got a feeling an all new format developed by the astoundingly brilliant (ahem) minds at the world's largest record labels is apt to follow the aforementioned formats right on down to Irrelevant Boulevard. According to Times Online, Sony, Warner, Universal and EMI are currently looking to go head-to-head with Apple's own "Cocktail" by introducing a CMX format (codenamed) that will "give music fans a computerized version of the sleeve notes that come as standard with a CD, including lyrics and artwork, and videos." Reportedly, the format is expected to launch in November in an effort to boost whole album downloads (as opposed to singles), and while the labels approached Apple in order to gain its support, the Cupertino-based company purportedly decided to concoct its own mixture. Oh, and you can pretty much consider this extra DOA should iTunes not support it; fair or not, that's just the way it is.

[Via Guardian]

Apple, record labels working to spur album sales with interactive goodies, tablet due this September?

by Darren Murph posted Jul 27th 2009 at 1:17AM

Let's face it, folks -- the CD insert is no longer "the new hotness." And besides, those wacky PDFs included with iTunes album purchases never did much more than take up valuable hard drive space anyway, right?. In an effort to get consumers to stop buying single tracks and start buying ~~more filler~~ entire albums, Apple has reportedly joined forces with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group in a project that's being codenamed "Cocktail." Financial Times is reporting that said initiative is considering adding "interactive booklets, sleeve notes and other interactive features with music downloads," with one executive familiar with the situation saying that "it's not just a bunch of PDFs; there's real engagement with the ancillary stuff." Of course, all of this should still be taken with a pinch of salt for now, as even the music companies mentioned above refused to comment. And given the tremendous indifference consumers have shown with that other interactive tech that's being pushed so hard right now, we're not even sure it'll have the desired effect.

In related news, another sect of folks "briefed on the project" have stated that these new content deals could be launched alongside a new, full-featured "tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution." Adding fuel to the already raging fire, the report asserts that the "touch-sensitive device... will have a screen that may be up to ten inches diagonally," and while it will "connect to the internet like the iPod touch, it'll probably [do so] without phone capabilities." You do know that Apple has been good for a music / iPod-related event right around September the past few years, right?

[Via AppleInsider]

Warner reintegrates HD DVD faithful with Red2Blu trade-in program

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 22nd 2009 at 10:28AM

U.S. HD DVD fans that passed up Best Buy's offer of $3 per disc, or just those who stocked up on cheap movies after the format gave up the fight have another option coming from Warner Bros. Send in the cover art sleeve (keep the disc) including UPC from your HD DVD case (plus $4.95 per movie and $6.95 / $8.95 per order S&H) and it will send you back a brand new Blu-ray copy. There's a few other restrictions, like 1 copy per movie and 25 different movies per household, but the biggest decision is likely to be whether giving up your precious I Am Legend sleeve is worth the trade, hit up Red2Blu.com for all the details and necessary forms. It seems to us like a decent offer to make HD DVD owners whole, we'd be surprised if Paramount and Universal came through with similar plans.

[Via DVDTown]

Warner Bros. plans to support CBHD, the format war is back on -- at least in China

by Richard Lawler posted Mar 2nd 2009 at 11:31PM

It seems appropriate that after striking the fatal blow in the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, Warner is the first to break rank and ally itself with the China Blue HD team. Ready to enter the ordinary Chinese consumer's family, according to Managing Director Tony Vaughan, the Harry Potter series, Speed Racer and others will launch for 50-70 yuan ($7.30 - $10.22) per disc. Excuse us while we pick our jaws up from the floor, but with at least one Hollywood studio in pocket and 1999 yuan ($292) players on the way the son of HD DVD looks closer to a real Blu-ray competitor -- and less like the destined for the scrap heap reject we predicted -- than ever. With DVD sales shrinking and Blu-ray not quite ready to pick up the slack, how long until another studio decides the Chinese market has enough potential to publish movies on CBHD? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Via Format War Central]

Qtrax announces deals with EMI and Sony / ATV, still can't distribute content

by Nilay Patel posted Mar 4th 2008 at 5:34PM

Man, Qtrax just can't stop over-hyping and under-delivering, can it? The company's trumpeting new deals today with EMI Publishing, Sony / ATV Music Publishing, and TVT Records, but of the three deals, only TVT will actually have music available for download. The deals with EMI and Sony / ATV are for publishing rights only, and since publishing companies only represent songwriters, and don't actually own the rights to the song recordings, Qtrax still can't offer songs to consumers. It's confusing, but Qtrax needs both types of deals to make things work. Still, considering that the EMI and Sony agreements are extensions of existing agreements, it's a little strange for Qtrax to hype them up -- if you're keeping score at home, this is essentially the same sort of half-truth Qtrax launched under, so it's pretty ballsy of the company to try and pull it again. On the other hand, getting TVT on board is no small feat -- TVT artists include Lil Jon, Ambulance LTD, Dude 'N Em, The Polyphonic Spree, and The Cinematics, so it looks like Qtrax might be getting better at this whole "signing actual deals with labels" thing.

Update: We had said in an earlier version of this post that several major labels had denied having deals in place with Qtrax -- while that's still true, the information was a few weeks old. The deals announced today are for real, but until Qtrax sorts out actual content-distribution rights, nothing's really changed.

[Via Tech Digest]

Warner's $400 mil payoff rumor rides again

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Feb 23rd 2008 at 1:07PM

Some rumors never die, and this one we heard even before the official Warner press release was issued. Now that the format war is officially over, newspapers and magazines everywhere are looking back on the events preceding Toshiba's announcement. While no one really knows why each studio made its decision, The Globe and Mail cites "analysts" who think the payoff was a factor. Well, we asked Warner point blank about the payoff rumor and Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group said that it "was not a bidding war" and that it really came down to Q4 sales. This answer leaves us with the impression that while some money probably changed hands, the real reason why Warner went Blu was because during all of 2007 the Blu-ray versions of Warner's titles always outsold the HD DVD. The bottom line is that regardless of any single payoff, since Warner owns most of the home media market, it had the most to lose if it waited too long to chose a format. [Disclosure: Engadget's parent company's parent company is Time Warner]

Blu-ray players grab 93 percent of market after Warner went Blu

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 22nd 2008 at 1:03PM

HD DVD and Blu-ray players sales pie charts

According to the latest NPD group report, during the month of December Blu-ray players held 60 percent of the HD media player market -- despite the fact that HD DVD players were considerably cheaper. While that might've helped Warner in its decision to go Blu, the move has definitely had a dramatic effect on player sales since. According to the same study the week after the announcement, Blu-ray players were able to grab 93 percent of the market, which puts the year to date (short, we know) share for Blu-ray players at 70 percent. Granted, it's hard to put too much stock in just a week or two of data, but if this and the recent media sales numbers (85 percent) becomes a trend, maybe this won't be such a slow death for HD DVD after all.

[Via Blu-ray.com]

New Line confirms it'll follow in Warner's Blu footsteps

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 5th 2008 at 4:45PM

As if anyone expected anything different, New Line confirmed with Variety Magazine that it'll follow Warner to the Blu-ray promise land. While this is a no brainer considering the relationship between Warner and New Line, (also owned by Time Warner, just like Engadget) other studios remain up in the air. When, and if, Universal makes the switch as well is any ones guess, but at this point we doubt many would expect otherwise. But, as we've learned in the last few days, anything's possible, but the idea of having one HD format to adopt is something even most members of the red camp can get behind.

HD DVD group cancels CES press conference in wake of Warner announcement: daaamn

by Ryan Block posted Jan 4th 2008 at 10:14PM

We just got an email which stated that the HD DVD group is canceling its CES press conference; tail severely between legs over today's explosive news that Warner -- the last "undecided" studio -- was going to the other side and doing Blu-ray discs exclusively. We're not sure if that's because the HD DVD group was in 11th hour negotiations with Warner or what, but the mood at that camp has to be beyond somber right now, so it's pretty hard to thump the tub when you've just been dealt a hard losing hand. Notice posted after the break.

Update: Toshiba, masters of the HD DVD format, just issued a press release expressing their "particular disappointment" with Warner, also implying that the move to go Blu-ray exclusive is actually in breach of contract. The particularly depressing release is also posted after the break.

Update 2: Doing a little victory dance of its own, Blu-ray is touting its CES presence as "Best Booth of All Time". No, not at all puerile. Nyah.

Continue reading HD DVD group cancels CES press conference in wake of Warner announcement: daaamn

The real reason Warner went Blu?

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 4th 2008 at 8:56PM

If you want to know why Warner (owned by Time Warner, which also owns Engadget's parent companies) choose Blu-ray and why now is the time, you should head over to Engadget HD. We had the chance to have a few words with the president of Warner Home Video and he was more than happy to clear up a few questions for us.

Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive

by Darren Murph posted Jan 4th 2008 at 3:47PM

We've all been wondering what to make of those whispers that Warner (owned by Time Warner, which also owns Engadget's parent companies) was indeed going Blu-ray exclusive, and apparently, those rumblings are true. Based on a breaking release, Warner Bros. Entertainment will be releasing its high-definition titles "exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year." According to Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, the move is a "strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," and he also noted that "the window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger." Notably, Warner will continue to release on both HD DVD and Blu-ray until May 2008, but after that, it's BD for life for this studio. Oh, and while there's nothing official mentioning any sort of payoff, we're hearing that quite a sum was dished out to make this happen. Full release posted after the jump.

[Via Deadline Hollywood Daily, thanks Todd]

Continue reading Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive

Sony BMG will reportedly offer DRM-free music

by Evan Blass posted Jan 4th 2008 at 10:23AM

In a move that could finally sound the death knoll for the universally-hated digital leech known as DRM, Sony BMG Music will reportedly become the last of the top four major labels to offer unprotected tracks for download. Citing people familiar with the arrangement, BusinessWeek.com reports that full details of the label's plan will be released "in the coming weeks," although at least part of its catalog will supposedly be available without DRM sometime this quarter. If this does indeed pan out, Sony would follow EMI, Vivendi Universal, and Warner in moving towards a much more consumer-friendly music distribution model.

[Thanks, Mack S.]

Amazon starts dishing out DRM-free Warner Music MP3s

by Donald Melanson posted Dec 27th 2007 at 11:45AM

We're not sure if Amazon's forthcoming DRM-less Super Bowl promotion has anything to do with it or not, but the company has just announced that its finally brought Warner Music Group into its MP3 fold, with a slew of music from the label now available for download without any of those pesky restrictions. According to Dow Jones, the pair also plan to offer other "digital music products," including album bundles with exclusive tracks, although details are few and far between beyond that. Still no word from Sony BMG on its intentions to go DRM-free (with Amazon or anyone else), but it sure looks like things are increasingly stacking up against them.

XM and Universal settle Inno lawsuit, Warner next?

by Nilay Patel posted Dec 17th 2007 at 6:57PM

The labels and XM have been fighting it out over XM + MP3 players for a while now, but it looks like Universal Music Group is finally backing down, signing a multi-year settlement agreement covering recording-capable XM radios like Pioneer's Inno. Terms of the agreement weren't released, but everyone sounds happy, with XM CEO Nate Davis calling the settlement "a win for everyone involved, especially for consumers." Of course, that means XM is now in a suit with just most of the RIAA instead of all of it, but the outlook's not all bad: Reuters is reporting that Warner and XM are close to settlement as well. No word on when that might go down, but Reuters says it'll be "soon." Now if only the other labels would get it together, no?

Read - XM and Universal settlement press release
Read - Reuters blurb about XM and Warner settling

Warner's Noonan denies Blu-ray exclusive, which is nice

by Thomas Ricker posted Dec 13th 2007 at 4:21AM

Freeze gopher! That Warner Brothers rumor which seemingly pre-dates the availability of both Blu-ray and HD DVD gear has returned. A week after Warner was to dirty HD DVDs swimming pool with their exclusive Blu-ray doodie, Jim Noonan (Noonan!), Warner Bros. Senior Vice President and General Manager, returns with this peach of a response, "We have made no decision to change our present policy which is to produce in both HD DVD and Blu-ray." And that's all she wrote.