MusicMatch Store Boosts Windows Media Audio

Today's launch of the MusicMatch digital music store is a significant win for Microsoft's Windows Media Audio technology. MusicMatch's approach, like Apple's, demonstrates digital rights management done right.

To purchase songs, users need to upgrade to MusicMatch 8.1. Like Apple's iTunes Music Store, songs are previewed and purchased within the music player. I find purchase from within the music player, where consumers manage and listen to tunes, to be a sensible approach. Like Apple, MusicMatch is offering fairly consistent DRM, meaning usage rights are consistent song to song. To date, rights that varied from music publisher to publisher or song to song has been one of the biggest problem with buying digital music on Windows PCs. A previous blog covers this topic. Like music purchased from Apple, MusicMatch purchased tunes can be played on up to three computers and can be transferred to music players without major restriction. MusicMatch limits CD burns to five per playlist versus 10 for Apple.

MusicMatch's adoption of Windows Media Audio--in part, because of Microsoft's DRM--is yet another endorsement for the technology. Roxio hasn't announced its plans for the Napster, but the service's previous Pressplay incarnation used WMA. BuyMusic.com also uses WMA and Microsoft's DRM.

In what may be an interesting marketing twist, Apple's music store might turn out to be a major catalyst driving WMA adoption. The iTunes Music Store, with over 10 million song sales, has shown some consumers would pay for digital music if given the chance. Since the store's launch, there has been a scramble to put together Windows music stores; Apple has announced but not opened a Windows version of its store. So far, WMA is emerging as the preferred choice, in part, because of the strength and flexibility of Microsoft's DRM.

In a secondary twist, MusicMatch is the provider of software used to synch the Windows version of Apple's iPod music player with PCs. I had wondered if MusicMatch might be a partner with Apple on the Windows version of the iTunes Music Store. Neither company has said so, and today's announcement would seem to negate any reasonable expectation such a partnership would be in the works. At the same time, I wonder what MusicMatch's future role will be, if any, with the Windows iPod. After all, if Apple and MusicMatch aren't working together, then the Mac maker is more likely putting together a Windows version of iTunes. Such a move would make sense, if, like on the Mac, Apple wants to sell songs through the music player.

Because of Apple's renown secrecy around product development, it's never safe to bet on what the company will do. MusicMatch 8.1 takes a very similiar approach to music downloads as iTunes 4 for the Mac. What seems like reasonable or unreasonable speculation around Apple's strategies sometimes leads to the wrong conclusion. So, it will be interesting to see how or how not MusicMatch and Apple might work together in the future. I must say that it is interesting that MusicMatch's approach--buying through the music player software, pricing and consistent rights management--is almost identical to Apple's.

It also will be interesting to see if publishers and distributors like BuyMusic.com or MusicMatch take advantage of some of WMA's advanced audio features, such as 5.1-surround sound. Right now, publishers typically offer 5.1-surround sound songs on DVD audio discs, sold separately or with a CD release. Example: 3 Doors Down's "Away From the Sun" CD, which sells for about a buck more with a companion DVD containing video clips and 5.1-surround sound versions of some songs. Publishers and distributors using WMA, now, would be able to offer 5.1-surround music downloads, too.

Posted by Joe Wilcox at September 29, 2003 10:04 AM