Which Net music
technology will win?
By Beth Lipton
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 7, 1999, 8:35 a.m. PT
news analysis With an ever-increasing number of big
players entering the race to have their music download
technology become a standard, the question now is
which format will win.
Many analysts agree that for the moment, MP3 has
established itself as the de facto standard for downloading
music, but the format is hated by many in the record industry
because it allows for the easy distribution of illegal copies of
copyright-protected music. Because of the industry's opposition
to it, and because the technology itself is looked upon as
somewhat outdated, some analysts and industry observers say
MP3's heyday will be short-lived.
And even with a standard format, delivering music via personal
computers has a number of hurdles still to be worked out,
some analysts say. Although most agree that online delivery of
music is both viable and inevitable, and record and technology
firms are racing to get out in front on developing formats and
business models, it involves a change in consumer behavior
that extends far beyond the shift from vinyl to CDs, for example.
This week Seagrams' Universal Music Group became the latest
player to enter the online music delivery format race,
announcing a deal with InterTrust Technologies to offer a secure
format. In addition, RealNetworks joined the music download
fray this week, introducing a new digital music architecture and
a new device for downloading music in MP3 (MPEG 1, Audio
Layer 3) and other digital music formats.
Those two players join a host of other companies that are
preparing to launch or are already offering music download
products, such as Liquid Audio, AT&T Labs' a2b Music, Sony,
Microsoft, and IBM, among others. Many also are part of the
Secure Digital Music Initiative, the Recording Industry
Association of America's project that seeks to create a
specification for secure music downloads that ostensibly could
be part of any format. |
