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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 3. 2005
iPod faces its first threat from music rental service
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Is music something you own or something you rent?
How music fans answer that question in coming months will help determine the viability of a new state of online music services that offer to fill portable music players with an unlimited number of songs for a monthly fee.
While the music subscription approach has grown in recent years, far more music fans have opted to buy songs by the track, a business model popularized by Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store and its hugely successful iPod portable player.
But the release last year of new copy-protection software from Microsoft Corp. may begin to change that. The software frees subscribers to move their rented tracks from their computers to certain portable music players.
The system works by essentially putting a timer on the tracks loaded on the player. Every time the user connects the player to the PC and the music service, the player automatically checks whether the user's subscription is still in effect. Songs stop playing if the subscription has lapsed.
If the user doesn't regularly synch up the player with the service, the songs go dead as well.
"This is potentially the first serious challenge that the iPod is going to face," said Phil Leigh, president of Tampa, Fla.-based Inside Digital Media. "What these devices are going to be able to do is attack iPod where it's weak."
Several online music purveys see portability as selling point that can lure consumers to their subscription services. Forrester Research projects music subscription revenues will more than double this year to $240 million, largely because of portability.
RealNetworks, MusicNow
"This is potentially the first
serious challenge that the iPod is going to face."
Phil Leigh
President of Inside Digital Media
and MusicNet, which distributes its service through brands like America Online and Cdigix, all have plans to launch portable subscription services this year or early 2006 at the latest.
Napster LLC and F.Y.E., another MusicNet distributor, began offering portable subscriptions late last year through the Windows Media Player software, code named Janus.
Napster plans to turn up the heat on Apple with a $30 million advertising campaign debuting during Sunday's Super Bowl to promote a relaunch of its portable subscription service, dubbed Napter To Go.
"This is really the first subscription service supporting Janus that's going out in a big way," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Forrester Research. "Napster is charging a lot harder than the rest of them."
Napster's service is $14.95 a month — about $5 more than a non-portable subscription. FYE.e's service is also $14.95.
Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and chief executive, said the new service should boost its subscriber numbers, which stood at 270,000 as of December.
Marketing will be crucial to persuading consumers accustomed to buying CDs or owning digital music tracks purchased online to switch to paying a monthly fee for music, like they might do for cable television programming.
"There's going to have to be
some education in the marketplace," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director for Jupiter Research in New York. "There's some stuff that consumers watch over the air and on cable but don't actually own and some DVDs consumers actually go out and buy. There's going to be some coexistence here as well."
Alan McGlade, president and chief executive of MusicNet, said consumers will see the value in being able to rent music.
"When you think about it, you can log on Tuesday when the new records are in the stores and download whatever new albums are out," McGlade said. "If you have to pay a la carte, then you have to make a buying decision."
Not everyone is convinced.
Apple has said it has no plans to offer a music subscription service. The iPod players don't support the Janus format.
Microsoft's own music service, MSN Music, has yet to offer any services beyond pay-per-track downloads.
Doubts also linger over whether consumers will be happy with the crop of portable music players that can support portable subscription services.
So far only a handful of players — including ones from Creative, Dell and iRiver — are on the market, although analysts say their number should increase this year.
And then there's the iPod factor.
"The problem is that in the current state of the market, vendors at best have been offering technical equivalents of the iPod, and the iPod itself has transcended from a consumer electronics item to cultural icon," Gartenberg said.
Portable music subscriptions may be a milestone, Gartenberg said, "but it's not something that is likely to displace Apple in the short-term."
BUILDINGS THAT HAVE BEEN PROTECTED OR PRESERVED BY THE MOUNT OREAD ASSOCIATION
Graphic by Cameron Monken
CHARM:Fund helps preserve campus landmarks
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
In the last 25 years, it has made a significant difference in what the campus looks like today.
The Historic Mount Oread Fund has been responsible for many preservation projects around campus, including adding five KU landmarks to the National Register of Historic Places.
the preservation of the 1887 powerhouse, the University's oldest surviving structure.
The front of the powerhouse, an old powerplant was incorporated into the design for the recently constructed Hall Center for the Humanities, southwest of Watson Library.
Most recently,it advocated
"Some of our members played a big part with that," Armitage said. "If it hadn't been for their work in setting
the value of the building, it probably wouldn't be there."
The Historic Mount Oread Fund also provides information detailing the historical significance of buildings on campus.
"I think that the historic significance of many of the buildings is something that needs research," Gridley said. "We can help out with that."
Edited by Megan Claus
NEW HALL; More parking will be available
The spindles in Rieger will have the same pattern that the spindles from Old Fraser had.
"By rotating them with a little different finish, it gives the banister a real elegant look," Stoner said.
parking, said that a tentative plan is to give Rieger residents the option to purchase Kansas Union garage yellow parking permits.
Parking at the hall could be a challenge. A lot was not included in building plans to preserve the look of the house.
Hultine said that the parking commission would set aside more than 30 spaces in the Union parking garage.
Hultine said that Union parking garage permits cost $125. The permit includes other yellow parking areas on campus. She said that the parking
Donna Hultine, director of
commission is working on a plan this spring to decide whether the permits will cost $125 or $85, the cost of a regular student Alumni Place parking permit.
KU alumni Roger and Annette Rieger of Seattle donated $3 million to fund the scholarship hall named after the late Dennis Rieger. Roger's brother.
- Edited by Kim Sweet Rubenstein
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