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Curently mp3 is the second most searched for word on the internet after sex. I thought it would be interesting to see what siers have to say about this middle aged technology. Although the general format has been in use for about a decade now the proliferation of cheap pc cdrom drives and more recently high speed internet connections (which reduce download times per song from roughly 20 to 2 minutes) in residential areas have breathed new life into it. The music "labels" haven't seen such a threat to their livelihood since tapes began replacing records. The only difference now is that each successive copy of music is completely digital and therefore as clear (or low quality) as the first. This bothers labels (and the established artists that own them or get royalties from their distributions) but it has actually been a boon to lesser known performers who have made little or no money so far trying to distribute their wares at low volumes through labels. By distributing full length sample songs through web sites like mp3.com they can prosper by getting better live performance opportunities or selling cds (which are of somewhat higher quality because songs take up ten times or more space than on mp3 encoded tracks) directly by mail to newly acquired fans. This may be the most important example yet of disintermediation, a term internet economists so frequently discuss. Producers will have a more direct and (hopefully) profitable relationships with consumers. Portable players such as the Rio and Mpman are making this flexible form of music listening much more convenient and soon car mp3 players will allow motorists to have playlists (mp3s must be categorized by users for play order and aren't automatically lumped into units we now call albums) of litterally thousands of songs available to them as they drive around. New stereos also promise to play computer cdroms which can hold upwards of 100 songs at standard mp3 compression (128kbps which is ~2.5x a 56kbps download or roughly 16k or two web banner adds per second). The recordable cds require special hardware but prices and ease of use are quickly improving. Time Warner, which is in the odd position of owning millions of songs and a high speed cable modem ISP called Road Runner, is currently trying to develop a "secure" means of distributing music. My personal opinion is that the only way current content owners will continue to be able to attract new talent and content is if they harness the new defacto standard and use it to deliver music to the consumer in a plethora of intuitive ways. This should be what drives the consumer wireless internet revolution - music on demand. If subscribers could pay a reasonable fee for broad access to vast song archives from which they could request songs by voice (ex. Aerosmith - toys in the attic) while sitting on the bus or sleeping in class they would be willing to fork over $15-20 per month. Tens of thousands of kids would also be willing to run their own dj operations just as chat groups have hosts right now (nullsoft.com, maker of industry standard Winamp mp3 pc player, is pioneering this right now but I haven't checked it out yet). I think the internet pioneers such as goodnoise.com which currently hawk mp3s should make a point of keeping track of what individuals order and allow them to download it again in case of disk crashes or simply lack of space. Repeat visits would bring new sales and build a customer base which will definitely be a valuable asset when wireless music on demand becomes a realtiy. Anyway, here are some interesting links: Wired's ongoing mp3 section: wired.com Upside's mp3 shareware comparison upside.com Please add more links! | ||||||||||||
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