Word: musicnet
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...Napster has a shot at holding on to the hearts and minds of digital music lovers at this most critical time, and it's not taking it. Neither is the music industry as a whole, which still hasn't given us much indication of what the much-hyped MusicNet and Duet online services will look like (they're supposed to switch on this summer, but don't hold your breath). Is it any wonder that Morpheus has stepped in to fill the vacuum...
...from their bank account every time they downloaded an MP3 (it would be worth it to guarantee a complete, error free download every time). But there's the rub: nobody appears to be even thinking of offering what we might call Morpheus Plus. The business models of Napster and MusicNet call for tunes to come in their own limited, secure format rather than what consumers want, which is play-anywhere MP3s. They're about subscriptions rather than micropayments. They give no indication that anyone in a position of power in these companies actually understands what it's like to download...
...Well, Warner Music, Bertelsmann, and EMI are partners in MusicNet, which is the RealNetworks venture that CEO Rob Glazer's is out trumpeting these days. Sony and Universal are partners in Duet, which Yahoo already has a stake in, and Bertelsmann has a side deal with Napster...
...plus for Universal is to get that distribution channel. MusicNet has AOL behind it, and although Yahoo is involved with Duet, this gives Universal an experienced, in-house distributor that already has a brand presence out there. And as a bonus, Vivendi Universal basically owns about 150,000 titles that Mp3.com already owned...
...sort of a three-and-two division of the Big Five, with MusicNet and Mp3.com. Is anybody going to shop for music by label...