Microsoft announces music service:

April 29, 2003 10:30 AM

Microsoft announces music service: Apple roughed up in playground, candy stolen.
posted by aladfar (37 comments total)

No, it's not the same thing, but it comes close. For those who don't want to read the whole article:

"Music Choice offers ISPs a complete package for the secure delivery and playback of high-quality audio through broadband networks. This package will use Windows Media 9 Series and Microsoft Windows® Server 2003 for secure encoding and delivery of content."
posted by aladfar at 10:32 AM on April 29, 2003

for secure encoding and delivery of content

In other words: "We have your cohones in a sling, why not listen to some music while you struggle with your bonds."
posted by thanotopsis at 10:34 AM on April 29, 2003

And remember boys and girls: unless Big Business tells you it's okay to listen, you're stealing.
posted by ZachsMind at 10:37 AM on April 29, 2003

They announced this, you'll note, back in January. In Europe. It certainly hasn't made as big a splash in the U.S. as Apple's service has.
posted by kindall at 10:38 AM on April 29, 2003

Also, they don't say whether the user contract will allow people to burn CDs, put the files on other computers, put the files on portable players, and keep using the files after they stop paying for the service. I would be wary.

Also, after playing around with the interface of Apple's Music Store for a few minutes, I could instantly see the potential. Micro$oft will have a hard time duplicating it.
posted by password at 10:56 AM on April 29, 2003

IT'S NOT STEALING!!!
posted by xmutex at 10:57 AM on April 29, 2003

media player 9 contains the seeds of the "secure computing platform" and you'd be better off hitting your machine repeatedly with a pickax than you'd be installing that piece of shit on it. read the binding click crap. media player is the route by which they will take total control of your computing environment, installing OS "enhancements" without your knowledge.
posted by quonsar at 11:03 AM on April 29, 2003

oh, i forgot - since i got my new box, it's quicktime and winamp and nothing else. it they won't play it, i won't watch it. more people, many more people, need to look beyond their shallow lusts for digitally stored tunage and get with this program.
posted by quonsar at 11:08 AM on April 29, 2003

Yeah, it's stealing. It's like busting down the door to an old lady's apartment and taking her oxygen and her medication, and when she's lying on the floor, panting for air and begging you to give back her pills, you're all, like, "no way, 'cause I'm a thief and I steal things."

Actually, it's even worse than that.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:10 AM on April 29, 2003

I love how Music Choice claims it has this wonderful reputation for music delivery. Everyone I know refers to them as "that damn music service that sucks on my cable box."
posted by benjh at 11:12 AM on April 29, 2003

Listening to MP3s is sort of like raping your mother, just after you've shot your grandmother in the face.
posted by xmutex at 11:16 AM on April 29, 2003

huh?
/scratches head and eyes xmutex warily
posted by jlynford2 at 11:30 AM on April 29, 2003

"Listening to MP3s is sort of like raping your mother, just after you've shot your grandmother in the face."

Only with a better soundtrack.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:37 AM on April 29, 2003

"Apple shows playground bully how to make friends; bully refuses to learn."

The whole point of Apple Music Store is that it's not a subscription service. You don't have to pay anything now in the hopes that it'll have music you want. If it has what you want, you can buy it. If not, no loss, you can go hunt Gnutella for it.
posted by nicwolff at 11:41 AM on April 29, 2003

I'd argue Apple's is a form of subscription service. The songs from Apple can only be played on so many different computers, meaning that eventually pc obsolescence will make your songs unavailable, meaning you have to pay for them again.
posted by NortonDC at 11:46 AM on April 29, 2003

NortonDC, I'd agree but you can burn the files to audio CD. Of course, the eventual decay of your audio CD media puts you in the same kind of situation. Damn that planned obsolescence!
posted by cnx at 11:52 AM on April 29, 2003

NortonDC - Not so, the songs are tied to your Apple ID (which you need in order to buy them) and you can register and unregister computers at will. Your music is limited to playing on 3 computers at once, but those computers can be any 3, at any time, in any place. If you buy a new one, you simply 'unregister' the old one (there's a menu option for it in iTunes) and then 'register' the new one. No fees, no hassles. What you buy, you keep. To 90% of the buying public, this is no different than making mp3's of the CD's you own - how many people have, and regularly use more than 3 computers, and how many of those people keep their whole music library on all 3?
posted by fizgig at 11:56 AM on April 29, 2003

Heh. Yeah, Apple will be disappearing ... (checks watch) any day now. Besides, let's say they did die -- this music service will apply to any three computers, not just Macs. Wait a few months.

Of course it's stealing when you download it for free. That said, I steal along with everyone else. But with these sorts of services, I'd rather be legit and get a quality track. Too bad the Apple one is the only one that doesn't tether you and doesn't charge a monthly service.
posted by jragon at 11:57 AM on April 29, 2003

You're right, fizgig (I was ignorant of how the songs are tied to systems), but I would easily use more than three pc's. Two main workstations at home, plus the little one hooked into the stereo, plus the laptop, and finally my office pc. That's 5, assuming don't have to count the separate file server it would actually reside on for a couple of those situations.
posted by NortonDC at 12:02 PM on April 29, 2003

No, jragon, what I said was never about the persistence of Apple, but of your Apple.
posted by NortonDC at 12:04 PM on April 29, 2003

I would easily use more than three pc's

So stream the files from one machine to all the others. Or better yet, go reread the apple thread, which covered all of this about sixteen different times.
posted by ook at 12:07 PM on April 29, 2003

dry sarcasm really just doesn't carry over well on the Internet. I just realized this. *smirk*
posted by ZachsMind at 12:09 PM on April 29, 2003

I know a number of Danes who hate this service. The library, while it has more songs than apple currently does, is terrible. Searching is a pain, and previews are slow. Have you tried the apple service? Its pretty slick.
posted by jmgorman at 12:18 PM on April 29, 2003

I'd argue MP3s are a form of subscription service. Songs saved as MP3s can only be played on computers and CD players, meaning that you have to own a computer or a CD player, meaning that obsolescence will make your hardware old and unreplaceable, meaning you have to pay for them again.

Plus, there's all of these monkeys in my refrigerator, so, y'know...
posted by waldo at 12:18 PM on April 29, 2003

NortonDC, good point, but, like ook said, you can stream them to the other workstations. Of course, since you can burn them to an Audio CD, you can just re-rip them on the other machines. Basically, Apple's solution is "fair use" in digital form. Compare that to WMA. Or Windows/Office XP for that matter. Talk about obsolescence forcing you to buy the same thing twice.

Personally, I can only dream about having 3 computers at the moment. :) Oh yeah, and you should get an iPod! That goes for anybody worried about playing these songs in the car. My sister has one, with a tape adapter, and it works perfectly - no skipping, thousands of songs at your fingertips, very small footprint. Yet another item for my wish list. :)
posted by fizgig at 12:20 PM on April 29, 2003

since i got my new box, it's quicktime and winamp and nothing else.

I'd be right there with you, quonsar, except I cannot do without my fix of streaming radio broadcasts of Red Sox games, which is available only though the otherwise evil RealOne player. I've tried to quit but I just can't, even though I know Real is probably pumping my computer full of spyware and adware.

Of course, if streaming baseball was only available through the klez virus, I'd probably install that on my computer as well.
posted by boltman at 12:36 PM on April 29, 2003

Of course, if streaming baseball was only available through the klez virus, I'd probably install that on my computer as well.

*laugh*
posted by Marquis at 1:26 PM on April 29, 2003

MusicChoice -- because offering choices is what Microsoft is all about.

*cough*
posted by Eloquence at 2:35 PM on April 29, 2003

Boltman -- You get streaming Sox games? Where?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:04 PM on April 29, 2003

[offtopic]

...it's quicktime and winamp and nothing else.

Try n.player plus the ffdshow codecs, q. Sweet.

[/offtopic]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:53 PM on April 29, 2003

Civil_Disobedient: MLB.TV
posted by kjh at 4:19 PM on April 29, 2003

since i got my new box, it's quicktime and winamp and nothing else.

QuickTime!?

I dunno about you, but my movie format of choice is most definately not a format which desperately wants me to play it in a crummy custom player which, amazingly, manages to be even less likeable than WMP9.

XviD and Vorbis in a crispy OGM shell for me, thanks. At least until Xiph comes up with something cleaner.

Oh, and all played in Media Player Classic, which unlike practically any other media player on earth, does not make me want to gouge my eyes out (or, when I'm thinking more clearly, gouge the eyes out of whoever designed it).

Oh, and you do know Winamp will play your movie files now too, don't you? :)
posted by Freaky at 4:45 PM on April 29, 2003

Civil Disobedient: I actually prefer the radio broadcasts, since it's only $12 for the season, and IMO baseball over the radio is just as good (if not better) than baseball on TV.

It's the only web service I've ever paid money for, and worth every penny (and then some).
posted by boltman at 5:02 PM on April 29, 2003

Pirating MP3s is like wearing Hitler's skin whilst fucking a donkey.
posted by solistrato at 6:18 PM on April 29, 2003

Yes, solistrato! God, at least some people get it.

Oh, and thanks for the b-ball links. I love listening to the Sox on the radio more than watching TV, too. It makes me feel old-fashioned, like I'm listening to some old radio show. I actually have a vintage 30's radio that I use to listen to games when they're at home.

This, of course, has nothing to do with Microsoft or their new service. Sorry.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:07 PM on April 29, 2003

Microsoft should learn from Apple and make announcements when there is something to see.
posted by rudyfink at 11:10 PM on April 29, 2003

Pirating MP3s is like wearing Hitler's skin whilst fucking a donkey.

Well, that's Apple's take on it. Microsoft's is more along the lines of being fucked by Hitler, I think. Not sure where the donkey comes in.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:24 AM on April 30, 2003