Online music updates.
With the race now on between Apple and Google to launch a cloud music service hotting up, there seems to be a bit of shuffling around for many music based services. Reports this week indicate that Apple is the next in line with its offering and rumours are that they are moving fast and already have deals in place with at least two of the four big labels.
Apple also appear to be loosening their historically tight restrictions on iTunes only access to music by extending the user’s ability to play tracks in other user’s collections. The rumour mill cranked up a notch in the last few days when reports indicated that Apple has purchased the icloud.com domain from Xcerion who have rebranded their cloud services CloudMe. So far Apple has declined to comment on the rumours.
While there are no details yet as to what Apple’s new service will look like, we can probably expect the basic features to include online storage, multi device access to songs bought on iTunes as well as access to other users.
In an interesting twist to the tale though, it appears Apple have authorised an app in its store which allows users to search for, play and download any song they want. And it’s legal! The app has been tested and works as described so it’s a wonder how this got approved by Apple. Perhaps Apple is beginning to position itself as a gateway for accessing music rather than forcing users to manage their music collections through its software alone.
While Facebook are moving their own product forward, Google is rumoured to be partnering up with Spotify which took a bit of a hit recently after reducing the access on its free service and angering users. But that’s not the only development Spotify has up its sleeve with news announced this week that it is soon to be offering streaming movies as well as music and has already a number of deals with major music studios. The company also appears to be pushing its negotiations with Facebook over its long awaited U.S. launch.
Finding new music through Facebook has also become a talking point this week after RootMusic publicly criticised the company for not providing a platform which supports the promotion of artists and their music. The criticism seems to be fuelled by Facebook’s constant changing of its platform which often threatens the success of other entertainment segments who build followings only to find that a change has been made which impacts on their ability to engage with their target audience. But with the sale of myspace expected to go through in the next few weeks, Facebook could be well placed to build it’s own capacity as a source for discovering new music.
Another interesting offering to the online music and gaming industry is iRok2 which allows users to download gaming tracks and play along to their favourite songs. Tracks are pulled down from youtube which gives the user access to almost any track they like as well as promoting new music through their “Daily Track” option. It’s certainly a fun way to discover new music and having tried it out I’m definitely a fan. If you like guitar hero you’ll love this.
And as if all of that wasn’t enough, U.S. based music video service Vevo has launched in the UK in its first step outside of the U.S. market. U.K. users can access all of its video contact including music videos, live events, interviews and performance coverage. The company is also looking into potential deals with U.K. TV channels to expand its service even further.
It seems some big changes are starting to hit the online music industry and it will be interesting to see what the landscape looks like once the dust starts to settle.
Editor: If I can do what I do with Last.fm or Spotify through iTunes and it connects to Genius, that will be the end of anything other than iTunes for me. One of the key reasons I stick to a pure Apple platform is that everything is integrated, and streaming music has been the missing piece for me. One great advantage of Last.fm though was the amount of small independent labels and music that is included. Without this, the sense of discovery you get when coming across new music will be fairly lacking. Sacrilege alert: I used Zune through my XBox – its really very good.
Sony hack update
Over two weeks have passed since hackers accessed the personal details of some 77 million accounts on Sony’s online network and while it has issued numerous apologies Sony is still unable to state with any real certainty whether customers’ credit card and bank details were compromised during the raid.
Investigations into the security breach are still ongoing and it is unknown when the company’s online services will be back up and running though Sony expect it to be some time this week.
While Sony continues to scratch its head over the forensics, one thing is clear; the gaming giant has taken a battering from the world’s media, it’s customers and bloggers across the world. Criticism has come mainly from the lack of communication to customers when Sony realised there had been a breach, waiting almost a week before informing those affected. Now Sony is facing a class action lawsuit amid concerns that it failed to take reasonable care to adequately protect its customers.
This recent security breach comes only a few weeks after Epsilon databases were exposed, although their management of the PR around the breach was almost beyond reproach, showing a stark contrast to Sony’s tight lipped and somewhat defensive approach.
Sony is still repeating their line that there is no evidence that credit card details were accessed even though some customers have reported incidences of credit card fraud. They appear to be taking the stance of a small child putting their fingers in their ears and singing to drown out the noise around them which doesn’t appear to be impressing anyone.
With two major security breaches in such a short space of time, it’s bound to make users question whether their details are safe and if a company like Sony can be compromised what hope is there for smaller, less well resourced companies.
Time will tell how Sony fare the storm but one thing is clear they haven’t managed their reputation as well as you’d expect from a company of this size. Sony has issued several apologies now to users but it may be too little too late to do much in the way of damage control.
Editor: The reputation management and online PR efforts have been surprisingly week – I regularly use Sony as a great example of online reputation management. I guess its pretty hard to put a good spin on loosing 70+M peoples data 
Is this the end of the iPod?
Ipod sales have dwindled significantly over the past six months and Apple seems to have been happy to let the product slide in favour of its iPad and Macbook products. With the popularity of cloud based music software such as Spotify on the increase it comes as no surprise that the focus has shifted away from music hardware onto web based products. And Amazon seems to have pipped its rivals to the post this week with the release of its Cloud Player which been heralded as the start of a new wave of products which will change the way we store and access our music collections. It’s the end of an era, much like the shift from CDs to MP3s and will give the user much more freedom around where and when they access their music rather than being tied down to a particular device. There are already a host of services available that allow users to stream music through the web to their phone or computer from a library of songs stored on the internet. But there’s nothing quite like being able to upload your own tracks and avoid listening to adverts forced upon those who chose not to subscribe. And of course both Apple and Google will be hot on Amazon’s tail launching their own products which are rumored to be available later this year. For Apple, Amazon’s Cloud Player doesn’t pose too much of a problem as it’s only available through web browsers and mobiles running Google Android so for those of use hooked on our Apple products we will have to wait for Apple to launch it’s own version. However it won’t all be plain sailing as, according to copyright laws in the UK, copying a CD track into an MP3 is technically in breach of copyright laws and while a blind eye has been turned to this practice in the past, uploading to the internet may mean that this issue will need to be addressed by Amazon and others who chose to follow in their footsteps. So perhaps the winner in this game is not the first past the post but the one who passes without having to negotiate the turbulent world of copyright laws. With the shift towards on-demand services being seen in most other areas of the entertainment industry, it was inevitable that music would move the same way and the idea of being able to access my entire music collection (as long as it fits within the 5GB limit) anywhere I am is pretty appealing.
Editor: Two key points. For anyone that tries to work when traveling a lot like I do, relying on an Internet connection for anything, let alone listening to music is generally a disaster. I love Last.fm, but I never try and stream music when I’m out and about. The delivery mechanism just doesn’t work. I look forward to the day it does, but until we start to see broader 3G coverage or some of the new 4G networks, this is fairly impractical. Secondly, the copyright issues will take a while to sort out. The music industry has been notoriously slow in adapting to new music formats and they love a court battle. I think cloud computing and streaming media are definitely the way forward, we just need more investment in infrastructure to make it work. Plus this is a non-Apple product. Why bother…
Death of the iPod at Apple Insider
Google falls foul of online privacy laws
Internet privacy is making headlines again this week following an investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) into Google’s social network Buzz which was created using information from its Gmail user accounts. It appears that user’s information was held and used in the development of the network without prior permission being sought or a suitable opt out policy in place. In fact the FTC has accused Google of using “deceptive tactics” in the development of Buzz which used personal data from Gmail accounts to populate the site. This latest hit at Google’s management of user data is just the latest in a string of misdemeanors by the web giant who were sued by some of their Buzz users over privacy violations last year. And earlier this year they were fined for gathering data via unsecured wi-fi networks which they mistakenly accessed while sourcing pictures for their Street View function on Google Maps. While the company have openly apologised to their users for the errors which they state “fell short of their usual standards” they will now have to undergo privacy audits every two years for the next 20 years which indicates just how seriously the FTC are taking this issue. And with the hub of debate taking place around the new EU laws set to take effect in May it seems online privacy is something we all need to sit up and take notice of. If the likes of Google can fall foul of regulatory bodies, this is a clear indication that the subject of personal data is one that is here to stay.
Editor: If you’re going to innovate as much as Google do, you are going to make mistakes from time to time. It becoming increasingly popular to Google bash, and the FTC seem particularly keen to stand up to this ‘huge powerful company’, but realistically what does it achieve. They need to be held to account, but audits for the next 20 years feels a bit prescriptive. I may go and open a Gmail account and buy an Android phone today.
