Word: mtv
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...probably already heard the news: MTV Networks has launched the Urge music download service to challenge Apple's iTunes...
...Enter MTV. That is, MTV Networks, which also includes VH1 and CMT. Unlike Napster, RealNetworks and Yahoo!, these guys are in the business of picking new music and getting listeners to like it. The key to the whole service, the thing that makes automatic sense, is that you don't use Urge to download albums or songs, but rather, to download playlists...
...MTV wasn't just satisfied with static playlists, so it created a series of musical feeds. Halfway between Internet radio and RSS, it's a playlist that changes from day to day. Feeds can be artist-based - an "auto mix" for Eminem includes his work plus songs by other rappers in his league. Some feeds are collections of tracks from the network's shows, such as TRL, VH1's Best Music Week Ever and CMT's Studio 330 Sessions. Urge even includes the Informer blog series, with people writing about music and using downloadable playlists to illustrate their discussions...
...brand-new 2GB clix ($200) - or another player listed on Microsoft's PlaysForSure website under the "Subscription Enabled" header - you can set up Urge to auto-synch playlists and feeds, but these players will never threaten the iPod. No, Urge poses a threat to Apple because of the MTV brand and because MTV closely works with youth-oriented cell-phone carriers like Virgin Mobile USA. When the circle is complete, it won't be an MP3 player that gets synched with your TRL feed, but a phone with 2GB of flash memory. Did somebody say iPhone...
...Price Isn't Right Re "Sweet 16 and Spoiled Rotten" [April 24]: I agree with columnist Ana Marie Cox that mtv's reality show My Super Sweet 16 verges on the nauseating. It is nearly unbearable to witness the whining of greedy teenage girls while their fathers cough up hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single party and a luxury automobile. After watching an episode with my rapt teenage daughter, I couldn't help asking, Is it any wonder the rest of the world hates us? Fern Galperin Stamford, Connecticut...