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krj
The Thirty-Second "Napsterization" Item Mark Unseen   Apr 14 20:02 UTC 2008

The usual canned introduction:

The original Napster corporation has been destroyed, its trademarks
now owned by an authorized music retailer which does not use
peer-to-peer technology.  But the Napster paradigm, in which computers
and networks give ordinary people unprecedented control over content,
continues.

This is another quarterly installment in a series of weblog and
discussion about the deconstruction of the music industry and other
copyright industries, with side forays into "intellectual property,
freedom of expression, electronic media, corporate control, and
evolving technology," as polygon once phrased it.

Several years of back items are easily found in the music2, music3
and music4 conferences, covering discussions all the way back to
the initial popularity of the MP3 format.   These items are linked
between the current Agora conference and the Music conference.
30 responses total.
krj
response 1 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 14 20:03 UTC 2008

Hug your record store on Saturday!  (If you still have one.)  
It's "Record Store Day," April 19 2008.

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/04/happy-record-st.html

http://www.recordstoreday.com/

(Maybe I should go leave carnations on the sites where the good stores
used to be.  It's been ten years since Ann Arbor's Schoolkids Records
closed its original store, about eight years since SKR Classical
folded, eight and seven years since the Tower Records outlets went,
and about that long since Michigan Where House Records closed.)

I was realizing the other day that the late 20th century record store
was a creation of the baby boomers and their musical demands, and so
it exits with them.
cyklone
response 2 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 14 20:32 UTC 2008

Thanks for the reminder to get my tickets for this year's "Horse and
Carriage Day"!
hungus
response 3 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 15 14:52 UTC 2008

Encore's still there.

And that was the only record store that ever really mattered anyway.

And wazoo too, right?.
krj
response 4 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 16 21:41 UTC 2008

It's not clear to me how long the used shoppes like Encore have, 
as the flow of new CDs slows down towards a trickle.   Maybe we'll 
all trade the existing base of CDs around for decades, but I kinda 
doubt it.   Don't get me wrong, I do love Encore and I have bought
more CDs there in 2008 than at any other retailer.
 
(Encore also has the problem that the big realty company wants to 
redevelop their space.)
 
Wazoo is still hanging in there.  I don't get there much any more 
because in the genres where I buy the most -- folk, "world", 
jazz and classical -- they are pretty weak in all except jazz.
hungus
response 5 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 17 14:16 UTC 2008

I'd say the bulk of Encore's inventory is vinyl, and appeals to a certain type
of collector.
krj
response 6 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 18 15:45 UTC 2008

NBC suggests that software tools which load content into portable 
players -- think iTunes, though the NBC spokesperson did not name that
product --  would be a good place to enforce some antipiracy measures.
 
Presumably the loading software would somehow fail to load 
content which did not have some sort of proof of authorized-ness?
NBC was not full of technical details here.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9920399-7.html?tag=nefd.lede
krj
response 7 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 18 20:27 UTC 2008

Here's a quote:
 
> "To limit unauthorized consumption of media it's imperative to 
> control the audience," Robert Hughes, executive vice president 
> of global sales, services and marketing for Akamai tells the 
> Business Technology Bog.

How's that controlling-the-audience thing working out for ya?

http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/04/16/media-companies-need-to-pick-up-the
-pace/
cyklone
response 8 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 18 23:51 UTC 2008

They're pinning their hopes on a nice, controllable Internet2.
gull
response 9 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 30 21:07 UTC 2008

The problem for them is DRM is quickly losing in the marketplace. 
Amazon's online music service gives you nice, DRM-free MP3 files.  You
do have to use their "download manager" tool, but once you have the
files you can do what you like with them.
mcnally
response 10 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 30 22:43 UTC 2008

 I believe you only have to use their download manager if you want
 to buy albums at the $8.99 price.  If you want single tracks at
 $0.99 there's a way to work that without using their download
 manager.
nharmon
response 11 of 30: Mark Unseen   Apr 30 23:59 UTC 2008

I may be getting an iPod soon and plan on filling it with music not 
purchased from iTMS. :)
mcnally
response 12 of 30: Mark Unseen   May 1 03:50 UTC 2008

 As does pretty much everybody who buys an iPod but doesn't have $10,000
 lying around to blow on music downloads.
gull
response 13 of 30: Mark Unseen   May 1 17:20 UTC 2008

Re resp:10: I think you're right.  They have download managers for most
platforms now, though, including Linux, so it hardly matters.

The majority of the music on my iPod is still from CDs I own, but when I
buy new music now it's mostly in downloaded form.
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