Open Sources | Rodrigues & Urlocker » Universal Music opens up...sort of (not really)

August 31, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Universal Music opens up...sort of (not really)

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Not open source, but it's a related attempt by a Big Proprietary Company (BigPropCo) to open up. And failing.

In case you hadn't heard, Universal Music today announced that it is licensing "its catalog of recordings and music videos available for free on an ad-supported Web site launching later this year.

Sounds great, right? Free music without the KaZaA?

Well, here are the details:

• Users can download an unlimited number of songs or music videos if they register at the site. [Verdict: Good]

• The tracks cannot be burned to a CD [Verdict: Bad], but users will be able to transfer music to portable media players equipped with Microsoft Windows digital rights management software. [Verdict: Insane, because the punchline is that the songs will therefore not be available to 77.9% of the market (the iPod, of course, but it also won't work with Macs, though that's only bad news for we "enlightened few." :-)

• The service will require users to return to the site and renew registration at least once a month or the tracks cease to play. [Verdict: Disappointing. I understand that ad-supported sites require users to...look at the site, but this is obnoxious..]

So, all in all, Universal has taken a baby step, but not one that will get it running in the digital music era. Maybe next time.

Posted by Matt Asay on August 31, 2006 09:51 AM

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