MusicGiants - Download WMA Lossless Audio to your Digital Music Player

[James Fee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2005/tc2005062_3663_tc024.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2005/tc2005062_3663_tc024.htm</a><br /><br /></div><i>"If you're listening to compressed music using your iPod earbuds, you won't notice much difference [from a CD]," says Scott Bahneman, founder and chief executive of tiny startup MusicGiants. "But once you play it on a good home stereo, the difference is huge." Bahneman hopes to close that gap, and position MusicGiants to take a high-end niche in the fast-growing "digital home" market. This summer, his 15-person outfit will launch the first service that sells online music at CD-equivalent fidelity -- what Bahneman calls "high-definition music." MusicGiants has licensed the music of all five major record labels, which it will sell in a "lossless" format, defined by Microsoft, that results in digital songs that equal the quality of CDs."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/musicgiants.jpg" /><br /><br />Hey, you've got that huge hard drive based digital music player, why not actually fill it up. I usually don't buy songs from iTunes because I don't like the poor bitrates and I don't consider the ones available using WMA high enough to burn to a CD, then rip into MP3. I've always wished for Apple to release Apple Lossless versions of the downloads (I'd even pay a premium for them) but nothing has happened. Now <a href="http://musicgiants.com/">MusicGiants</a> seems to be jumping into that market with WMA Lossless. I think this service is definitely worth a try.

[Doug Johnson]

Ouch! $50 annual fee!

[James Fee]

Yea, it's not aimed at the casual user, but I'm excited about finally being able to have the option. $50 is nothing if I have access to digital music I feel comfortable with listening on my home theater.

[Felix Torres]

Ouch! $50 annual fee!

Its a cover charge kind of thing but it probably won't last long.
MSN Music and BuyMusic are already supplying 256Kbps songs at regular rates and no fee.
The extra per song charge they can probably get away with for a while, but the fee is going to have to go and quick...

Thing is, somebody had to be first.
Well they are it.
Now the others either catch up or get out of the way.

Nicely done site, too. :-)

[klinux]

At $1.29 per track plus annual fee, I cannot imagine consumers will prefer this service than buying an actual CD i.e. they will not think this is convenient enough to justify the premium.

[James Fee]

Possibly, I think it is very close in breaking even, but I hate having to drive and buy CDs or pay shipping. If I hear something I'd like, I can have it in a matter of seconds.

I'd rather just handle it all from my house.

My gut feeling is if this works, which I believe it will, I'll be getting a rebate check when they lower the price in a few months.

[Felix Torres]

At $1.29 per track plus annual fee, I cannot imagine consumers will prefer this service than buying an actual CD i.e. they will not think this is convenient enough to justify the premium.

I've know a few of the high-end customers they're after.
It'll sell.

Its better than buying a $2000 CD jukebox, which a lot of folks do.
And you don't have to rip it yourself.
This isn't for Joe-sixpack; its for Joseph Brie-n-wine.
In fact, the cover charge is probably just to keep the rabble away. ;-)

[klinux]

I've know a few of the high-end customers they're after.
It'll sell.

Its better than buying a $2000 CD jukebox, which a lot of folks do.
And you don't have to rip it yourself.
This isn't for Joe-sixpack; its for Joseph Brie-n-wine.
In fact, the cover charge is probably just to keep the rabble away. ;-)

I also know some high-end customers too that will not use this. It won't sell.

It's not necessarily better than buying a $2000 CD jukebox which not that many folks do. People who are willing to pay that amount of money will likely go for a customized system that tie all of the media together, not just music. In addition, Joe six-pack is becoming Joseph Brie-n-wine as evident by the introduction of entry level luxury cars in the $30K range, designer labels in mass merchant stores, etc.

The cover charge, UI, and the DRM will keep the rabble and any customers away.

[Felix Torres]

Tongue in cheek rabble comments aside (there was a winkie there, no?) there *is* a viable audience for this service.

Now, the target audience is *not* your typical 12-25 top-40 fan-boy or -girl that thinks 128kbps MP3/AAC is quality sound. They are more likely to be adults, 30-45, buy albums instead of singles, listen to Diana Krall or the Sandpipers instead of Britney-washed-up-Spears or 50 Cent, Classical music or jazz instead of hip-hop or pop; have a 6-figure income, and drive an Acura or Lexus instead of a bicycle. :wink:

Their idea of quality audio gear is more likely Escient (http://www.escient.com/) than iPod.

They will think nothing of spending $250 a year in music, at which point they get the cover charge back and the $16 per cd price works out to a reasonable $12 and under $1 a track. (That's how cover charges work; they weed out the browsers, but give the true prospective buyers a fair deal.)

Their playback device is likely a boutique Media Center PC customized and installed professionally.

And there are about 1000 in each of the country's top 50 markets.
Just enough to ramp up the service while waiting for a broader market to open up.

Let's face it, high-quality, mass-market, portable digital music players with 100gb drives are about two years away, but they are coming. When they do, they will find at least one content distributor waiting for them. For now, however, the market for lossless music is a high-end niche and best served through a high-end approach advertised in business mags, not the WB or Fox.

The news here is that somebody with enough funding and contacts to secure access to the catalogs of the major labels at full non-degraded quality is building up the infrastructure for a lossless music d/l service, that somebody understands one-size does not fit all customers, and that there is room for a premium niche.

There's more than one way to compete, after all.
And, ultimately, there is still 98% of the market up for grabs.

Now me, I'm more a pizza-n-beer guy myself, but I just might be able to meet the reimbursement threshold *If* they offer the hard to find stuff I'm still looking for that even Amazon can't get me... :D