Spotiamp: Spotify's tribute to Winamp
Last month, AOL announced the end of Winamp, a media player that took off with the rise of the MP3 in the late 1990s. Its popularity as a standalone player has since dwindled thanks to players like iTunes entering the market, but it still has a base of passionate users.The official Winamp player is still fully functional, but there will be no further development. It is still available to download from Winamp.com, despite having passed the official shutdown date of 20 December.Though no official announcement has been made, it has been reported by TechCrunch that AOL is in talks to sell Winamp and Shoutcast.In honour of Winamp, Spotify has made a tribute app available that is fully compatible with songs from the music-streaming service. The user interface is lifted directly from the classic Winamp skin, and the program lets you play all your Spotify playlists.To download the free app, head to spotiamp.com for the Windows installer. As an added bonus, the app is compatible with Winamp visualisation plugins, has the classic equalizer and a built-in Shoutcast server. Spotiamp will only work with a Spotify Premium account.
Monday, March 23, 2015
SpiralFrog DRM music to play 60 days, then vanish
SpiralFrog DRM music to play 60 days, then vanish
"(Protecting songs with DRM) was the only way that SpiralFrog could offer the model," Levy said. "The record labels refused to go to market without it. This was a very good business proposition for consumers. They received free music as long as they agreed to be bombarded by advertisements...I think it's hard to criticize the company...I think 60 days is very impressive."Levy, who owns the company BuyDRM, says consumers deal with DRM every day in ways they don't notice. The technology is improving and soon it will be even less obtrusive. The technology helps protects the rights of content creators, consumers, and technologists, he said. "When DRM is right in the middle of all three, that is where happiness is," Levy said. "Consumers are getting more comfortable with DRM and it isn't going away. It may need to change, but it's not going away."Antipiracy software is used by the film industry and by music subscription services, such as Napster and RealNetwork's Rhapsody. But in the past year, download sites like Apple's iTunes and Amazon have rejected copy-protection software with the blessing of the major record companies. The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday is hosting a conference on the use of DRM at the University of Washington School of Law, said Levy, who will speak at the gathering. According to an FTC press release, DRM "is expected to become increasingly prevalent in the U.S. marketplace in the coming years" and address "the need to improve disclosures to consumers about DRM limitations."
"(Protecting songs with DRM) was the only way that SpiralFrog could offer the model," Levy said. "The record labels refused to go to market without it. This was a very good business proposition for consumers. They received free music as long as they agreed to be bombarded by advertisements...I think it's hard to criticize the company...I think 60 days is very impressive."Levy, who owns the company BuyDRM, says consumers deal with DRM every day in ways they don't notice. The technology is improving and soon it will be even less obtrusive. The technology helps protects the rights of content creators, consumers, and technologists, he said. "When DRM is right in the middle of all three, that is where happiness is," Levy said. "Consumers are getting more comfortable with DRM and it isn't going away. It may need to change, but it's not going away."Antipiracy software is used by the film industry and by music subscription services, such as Napster and RealNetwork's Rhapsody. But in the past year, download sites like Apple's iTunes and Amazon have rejected copy-protection software with the blessing of the major record companies. The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday is hosting a conference on the use of DRM at the University of Washington School of Law, said Levy, who will speak at the gathering. According to an FTC press release, DRM "is expected to become increasingly prevalent in the U.S. marketplace in the coming years" and address "the need to improve disclosures to consumers about DRM limitations."
Source- MySpace to announce new music service on Thursday
Source: MySpace to announce new music service on Thursday
It's been well-reported that label honchos think Jobs and his ubiquitous iPod have amassed too much control. MySpace Music is apparently part of a strategy by the big music companies to find an iTunes competitor, even if they have to help create one. The music service enables MySpace to leap past competitors Imeem and Last.fm, which beat MySpace to the punch when they began providing free, streaming music to users. But now, MySpace can present everything those services do and much more. Facebook was reportedly also in talks with the major record labels, but the music industry source said that unless something dramatic happens, Facebook is months away from being where MySpace is now. MySpace Music will launch with songs from three of the top four record labels: Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. The only label that hasn't agreed to the deal is EMI Music Group, said the source, who added that MySpace and EMI executives are working around the clock to close the deal and everyone involved is confident that EMI will eventually be part of the service.All the labels will receive a minority share in the company and a share of all the revenue generated from the site, according to the source, who spoke on condition on anonymity. Universal Music Group was thought to be holding up the service because of a copyright-infringement lawsuit that it filed against MySpace last year. MySpace has agreed to pay a "huge" settlement, according to Peter Kafka at Silicon Alley Insider.
It's been well-reported that label honchos think Jobs and his ubiquitous iPod have amassed too much control. MySpace Music is apparently part of a strategy by the big music companies to find an iTunes competitor, even if they have to help create one. The music service enables MySpace to leap past competitors Imeem and Last.fm, which beat MySpace to the punch when they began providing free, streaming music to users. But now, MySpace can present everything those services do and much more. Facebook was reportedly also in talks with the major record labels, but the music industry source said that unless something dramatic happens, Facebook is months away from being where MySpace is now. MySpace Music will launch with songs from three of the top four record labels: Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. The only label that hasn't agreed to the deal is EMI Music Group, said the source, who added that MySpace and EMI executives are working around the clock to close the deal and everyone involved is confident that EMI will eventually be part of the service.All the labels will receive a minority share in the company and a share of all the revenue generated from the site, according to the source, who spoke on condition on anonymity. Universal Music Group was thought to be holding up the service because of a copyright-infringement lawsuit that it filed against MySpace last year. MySpace has agreed to pay a "huge" settlement, according to Peter Kafka at Silicon Alley Insider.
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