iHollywood

DVD Jon's Mystery Client

Jon Lech Johansen, aka DVD Jon, is the Norwegian hacker god who broke the privacy code movie studios used to protect DVDs when he was 15. Now 22, he says he's broken the code iTunes uses to keep iPods from playing songs in any other format. He says he's got a big client for the software...

Is it RealPlayer? If not they, then who?

-Benjamin Nugent

iLike: Good News for Garage Bands

Today the Wall Street Journal gave the thumbs-up to iLike, a new web site that works with iTunes to show you what your friends are listening to, and connects you with other listeners who share your taste.

The catch is that iLike is made by the Hartovi brothers, the folks who brought us GarageBand.com, the web site that allows an unsigned band to put its demos on line, receive ratings from users, and potentially create buzz that will awaken the recording industry to its genius.

How has the GarageBand.com connection shaped iLike? Whenever you play a track on iTunes, iLike generates nine tracks it deems similar to the one you're listening to--five of which are already popular, but four of which are unsigned.

How many people listen to four unsigned bands for every five popular bands? Not many. If iLike becomes popular for its social networking aspects, it could create a YouTube effect in music, giving non-professional artists a shot at millions of eardrums.

-Benjamin Nugent

RIAA to juice Limewire

Fresh off its recent settlement with Kazaa requiring the service go legit and pay $115 million to the RIAA, the RIAA filed suit against Limewire's parent company Lime Group LLC. The RIAA claims that the service allows for the company to make money off illegal piracy.

It is reasonable to expect that the RIAA will again find victory and ensure the closure or legitimization of another P2P service currently being used for illicit means. What happens next remains to be seen. With many of the biggest file sharing services closed, will new ones appear to replace them or will the market scatter so much that users do not have one service to flock to? If so, will this effectively end P2P piracy?

Ultimately the closure of these services will help to thwart casual and moderate pirates. The hardcore who want to illegally obtain music will continue to find ways to do so. Instead, the RIAA needs to continue its anti-piracy education effort, policies against illegal physical format distribution in the US and abroad, and help the online music industry create flexible usage models that limit the perceived need for piracy. These efforts should help to further curb illegal file sharing and develop usage models that help propel the music industry into the future, assuming no further rootkit scandals emerge.

Google turns down the volume on gTunes

On Friday August 4 at National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), Google announced that it did not intend on getting into the digital music business. With Microsoft's Zune initiative underway, Google's decision may prove prudent.

The biggest obstacle the digital music market faces is the lack of a cohesive ecosystem outside of Apple's iTunes + iPod. Microsoft intend to address this problem with a Zune branded environment before the end of the year. If Google had opted to also launch a music store it too would have to offer a branded environment. Since Google is not a hardware company it would have forced Google to develop a campaign similar to Plays for Sure or build its own hardware.

With Microsoft about to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the Zune, Google's entrance would have further muddied the waters and made it easier for Apple to continue to dominate. Instead of consumer's having to learn about the difference between the two new offerings and hoping they provided ease of use, consumer's likely would have opted for the known commodity, Apple. Only one offering and message may stand a better chance to resonate with consumers.

This is a good decision for Google who would have had to invest millions to begin to carve out a niche for itself in audio. Instead of the saturated audio market, Google should focus on improving its video offerings and consider opening a service similar to AOL's in2TV. As other portals acquire more video content, Google may find itself left behind if it is unable to secure top tier content soon. Without being perceived as a studio and offering lots of traffic will make it easier for Google to partner with studios to acquire content than a studio branded site. Google also has the capital necessary to outbid competitors if necessary.

Otherwise, Google can continue to function as the ad-support engine for text and now video as a means to generate revenue. Google recently announced a partnership that will have MTV utilizing the Google Advertising Network to generate revenue from its streamed video content.

Reuters: Google quashes talk of expansion into music sales

Is the Neeon 2 Creative Enough?

Creative has announced plans to release the Neeon 2 MP3 player. This is another in a long line of iPod killers aimed directly at the iPod Nano, which itself is rumored to be undergoing a yet-to-be-announced make-over. The Neeon 2 will be available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models retailing for slightly less than Nano prices and with support for video playback. The ship date for the product has not yet been announced.

Understandably, the companies don't want to simply cede the market to Apple. However, iPod Nano knockoffs truly capture consumers' hearts and minds? Consumers interested in Nanos won't consider the competition, unless prices are far lower. Creative does not have its own branded music store and Microsoft is ready to crush the backbone of Plays for Sure  begging the question, what benefit benefit does buying a Plays for Sure compliant device offer the consumer?

While Microsoft has publicly stated that it will in fact continue to support Plays for Sure, why would the company promote a program that is now a direct competitor to a device it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on? You wouldn't expect Microsoft's game division to produce titles or hardware that can only be played on the PS3. And even if Microsoft does continue to support Plays for Sure it has been unsuccessful so far, making one wonder why it would suddenly gain mass appeal?

In order for anyone to compete one must create a branded ecosystem. Microsoft finally realized this and developed Zune. If Creative, Napster, iRiver, and others want to remain competitive they must follow a similar path. This will by no means ensure success, as device companies are not necessarily in the business of selling multimedia content but it will provide a better avenue towards it. Perhaps the companies shunned by Microsoft should consider to band together to develop an ecosystem outside of Plays for Sure?

Or perhaps it would behoove iRiver to make Napster or URGE branded devices only. Consumers desire the simplicity of knowing hardware and software will work together and such an approach would offer them that. Again, this may still not provide an answer to Apple, especially as individuals continue to amass Apple protected content. Each purchase makes the hurdle to switch to a non-iTunes compatible device/service more and more expensive. In the end, the battle may be a lost cause for some, but before choosing the path of least resistance companies must develop realistic ways to compete with Apple and produce hardware that truly re-defines the market, not simply re-purposes it.

--Josh Martin

See Gizmodo's Creative Zen Neeon 2 Introduced

Apple-Flavored Coke Coming Soon

Apple has teamed with Coke in Europe to give away 70 million songs in a bid to increase its visibility and the more than 10 million songs it sells there each week  The partnership also marks the end of mycokemusic.com -- one of the first music download services in Europe -- which it faded into oblivion since iTunes'  launch.

The partnership is reminiscent of the US Apple-Pepsi marketing effort in 2004, which attempted to give away 100 million songs. While that promotion saw little traction, much has changed in the intervening years and this promotion should prove a success.

Apple stands to benefit substantially from this partnership.  The marketing campaign could help cement Apple's status as market leader in Europe while finding new customers for iTunes. Offering free song downloads could convince non-iTunes users to download and use the software to acquire their free music. Apple has the opportunity to demonstrate to new users the breadth of the store offerings and how easy it is to integrate one's own music collection into iTunes. After that, the new consumers would clearly need an iPod to work with iTunes and ... Apple has found a new customer.

Coke has an opportunity to redefine its role in the online music space. As Coke continues to carve out niche identities for itself via MySpace and other sites, the company can potentially strike a chord with consumers on a large scale. With iTunes' success, consumers may opt to buy coke in lieu of other soft drinks to get a free music track. The end result should be a boost in sales of Coke, even if it is just for the short term and additional visibility for Apple, which may acquire new customers from the arrangement.

Verizon Unwraps Chocolate

As LG's Chocolate music phone launches, Verizon has revamped its mobile music offerings. Gone is the $15 monthly fee for V Cast Music. In its place is an a la carte download model. Songs purchased from a phone will cost $1.99; a copy will be sent automatically to a user's PC. Music can also be downloaded directly from the PC and transferred to the phone for $.99. For the first time, Verizon will support MP3s transferred from a personal collection.

The announcement removes a major barrier to entry for consumers unwilling to pay the monthly V Cast fee but interested in downloading content on a per-track or per-album basis. The new business model will eliminate recurring monthly subscription revenue for Verizon, but that revenue will be supplanted by the wider reach the free music store will offer. Usage of the V Cast Music store thus stands to grow.

Allowing users to port MP3s to their V Cast phones is an important step for Verizon, which had disabled the feature until now. While the Music Store might appear to be losing sales, Verizon's decision may actually result in additional users buying Chocolate and the accessories that Verizon offers for it. By embracing MP3s, Verizon will expose many more people to the V Cast Music Store -- stimulating many more sales from its 1.3 million-track library. Even though mobile music has a $1.00 premium over PC downloaded music, it is an impulse buy for consumers who occasionally must have a particular song. Those users are also more likely to buy additional storage solutions from Verizon. Eliminating the fee will be a win for consumers and a win for Verizon.

Kazaa's Bad Day

Kazaa, a file sharing service that has long been a thorn in the side of the recording industry due to the availability of copyrighted music and movies on the service, has been fined $100M which will be paid to the big four labels; Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI, and Warner Music.

The settlement also requires that Kazaa go legit right away. The large fine may prove enough of a deterrent for other file sharing companies to re-evaluate their businesses. Perhaps some will close down while others will do a better job filtering uploaded content to prevent copyrighted material from being shared. This is a step in the right direction but not the end game.

The real accomplishment is the closure of one major contributor to the illegal distribution of copyrighted content. It is unreasonable for the RIAA and other record labels to expect that new file sharing services will not continue to pop up as others are closed down. It is incumbent on them to pursue the offenders but it is equally important to create compelling, flexible, legal alternatives to acquire content with the same ease of which illegal can can be found and shared amongst devices. Doing so will truly help prevent the casual pirate from stealing content. While the avowed downloader may never switch, those are individual fish the RIAA should pursue next.

Metallica Starts Singing Sweet iTunes

Metallica, one of the remaining stalwarts against releasing music on iTunes has finally acquiesced. The band gained notoriety for its stand in 2000 against Napster and it involvement in helping to bring down the illegal file sharing and its users. They went so far as to personally hand over the names of 30,000 copyright infringers to a California Court.

Years after Napster, Metallica did make their music available through a number of online retailers such as Yahoo! Music, MSN, and through their own site. Those stores required fans to purchase an entire album. Releasing all ten albums on iTunes marks the first time fans can buy individual tracks.

While Apple acquiring more content for its music store may appear an innocuous announcement, it must be viewed as more. By convincing a major opponent to iTunes to release their library and sell their tracks individually is an indication that artists are recognizing that future distribution of their content requires iTunes. Such a move is an indication of the power that Apple has amassed since opening the iTunes store in 2003. Metallica may be the first domino to fall as other notable holdouts such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, and Garth Brooks decide what to do with their catalogs.

While Apple has found success without the inclusion of these artist's music in the iTunes music store, having those new libraries may help bring in new fans while providing a competitive advantage over other music stores. Said competitors do not yet and may not offer ala carte downloading of those artist's libraries. Metallica's decision proves that the question is not will the remaining holdouts release music on iTunes, but when.