Net Results/Karlin Lillington: Ever since the arrival of the file-sharing application Napster in the late 1990s, the relationship between consumers, musicians, record companies and the technology industry has been fraught.
Some blame the technology. Home computers, high-speed internet connections and computer drives that can burn CDs and DVDs make it very easy to duplicate and distribute music that has been converted (or "ripped") off audio CDs, and into a computer-friendly digital format (usually, a compressed audio format called MP3).
Consumers immediately demonstrated their enthusiasm for new ways of acquiring songs by downloading file-sharing programs like Napster, Kazaa and Morpheus by the tens of millions. Of course, when it comes to getting free music, what's not to like? But free music wasn't the whole downloading picture. Consumers liked the new possibilities of sharing music between devices - a computer, an MP3 player, a home stereo, a car player, a portable CD player. They liked being able to create their own music mixes. And they liked being able to acquire single songs easily, rather than forking out for a whole album.
Musicians seem split between those who welcome the Net's potential new distribution models, which could remove the record companies as fat cat middlemen, and file-sharing's threat of taking royalties out of their pockets.
But record companies obviously fear the loss of a sizeable income and control of an industry, and have aggressively pursued people who share music files online - often selecting individual students for the legal equivalent of a public flogging (in other words, court cases seeking millions in damages).
The music companies have also gone on the attack against the technology industry itself. The tech industry watched the Napster phenomenon and understood that music and computers and the Net were a very happy tech marriage, driving sales of equipment and software. Apple Computer even adopted the sales slogan "Rip. Mix. Burn." for its computers - which was kind of like pouring fire ants down the pants of the music industry supremos. They went ballistic.
Apple had to back off - but not completely. Apple continues to aim its hardware and software at the music-loving consumer, in between its trendy white iPod portable music device and its iTunes music management software. In recent weeks, rumours began to swirl that the company was also going to launch a music service. And that is exactly what happened on Monday.
While the Apple Music Store is not a complete resolution to the online music angst-a-thon, it is the first real bridge between the interests of the various parties to the scuffle. While other download services exist, Apple's is, as far as I can see, the biggest (over 200,000 songs from five labels: Sony, EMI, BMG, Warner and Universal, and growing).
Where many services do not allow users to copy the music onto other devices or to CDs, the Music Store digital protection mechanism allows a user to make 10 copies to CDs or devices and to share songs between three authorised computers. And users can buy songs one by one.
Songs cost 99 cents each, with albums running from $9.99 on up, but generally much cheaper than buying through, say, Amazon. You don't need to create a shopping cart unless you want to download all your purchases at once, a move that will facilitate impulse buys. Apple has made buying the music really easy - you create an account using a credit card, and getting a song or album thereafter becomes a one-click action.
It's possible to hear 30 seconds of every song - just double-click and it plays, with no wait for audio players to launch. The site also offers some Music Store exclusives, such as singles available only from the store. One such single - and the top download within hours of the service's launch - is an acoustic version of U2's Stuck In A Moment. For now, music is only available to people who have a US billing address for their credit card (Apple Ireland says the US-only restriction is due to European copyright issues that the music companies must resolve, and it hopes this will happen quickly). For the moment, you also need to access the service using a Mac, though a Windows-friendly store is coming by year's end.
Armed with my new Mac laptop and a US-based credit card, I set up an account in minutes and tried downloading the U2 song. It zapped over in about a minute on my home broadband DSL connection in a compression format called ACC, which has better quality and higher compression than MP3 (though you can opt for MP3s, if you prefer). Then, I tried an album -- Coldplay's A Rush Of Blood To The Head, which was $10.89. That came across in 17 minutes - very fast, compared to MP3s. The price is less than Amazon ($13.49) and you get instant gratification; no shipping charges, no wait. One intriguing feature is that the store carries spoken albums, such as comedy, and offers individual tracks of those, too.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he's guessing the Music Store will service new consumer preferences for mixes and playlists rather than album purchases. That seems a savvy guess, and an interesting move, which could open up a lucrative new stream of revenue (the company was even sniffing around the outright purchase of Universal for a while). Getting the music industry to walk in step with Apple is a real coup for Jobs - and for consumers, who want flexibility, not restrictions in how they use music they've purchased.
Other music sellers - both retailers and the music industry - will have to take note and adapt. However, Apple has not written the book on online music sales, by any means. While this initial service is hugely important, it will need to keep remaking itself. Prices are still a bit high, especially for back-catalogue "oldies". Even with five record companies involved, lots of acts are missing from the artist lists, and even some albums from existing artists. But don't underestimate how revolutionary this initial move into a realistic download service is. At last, and for the first time, all the parties to this online musical impasse seem to be singing from the same well, you get the idea.
klillington@irish-times.ie
Karlin's tech weblog: http://radio.weblogs.com/0103966/
