The company has been trying to move into the entertainment theater for quite sometime and they have managed to flop at each and every try. Why, their Apple TV venture is still struggling to make a profit with many customers expressing their opinions with the system’s lack of competitive and interesting content. The company has been trying to push streaming video and other content through the system but the amount of acceptable content has failed way below their promised mark. Many media giants have expressed interest but are still holding back as they try to see what the futuristic TV system that is hooked up to the internet rather than to a cable system is faring out.
Even the company’s CEO Steve Jobs is calling their company’s venture into Apple TV a hobby rather than a major money earning venture as they have invested much into the project with little returns in terms of profit. The promise of distributing content for the iPhone and iPod’s series of multi-media players has indeed perked up the area but still, major profits remain to be gained.
Apple, though it is quite a median player in the PC and portable markets with their Mac’s and Mac Books is recognized by many in the technology business as one of the most performing companies in terms of stock per stock value which is worth around $15.4 billion dollars with $5 billion added in the past year alone according to Fortune. The company continues to reign supreme with their iPod’s and iPhone which are some of the most wanted gizmos and gadgets on earth as far as multimedia is concerned. As more and more cheaper gadgets with similar capabilities come onto the market, the reign of the multimedia giant would be challenged a lot but not as much.
Tags: Apple TV, Flunking Expectations, iPhone, iPod
Categories: DVD Videos, Downloading Legally, Mobile Phones, Music, Providers, Videos, ipods
In attempts to get music stores into the digital music band-wagon, they have come up with a form of digital music purchase system, well sort of. Several music stores have started to sell digital music cards much the same to prepaid cards that allows users to log on to the online store and get them to download their songs for the nifty price similar to the cost of a current audio cd which is $12.00. These cards have a code which they enter that gives the user a sort of consumable account from which their selections are deducted from from the store in CD purchases or for online use. They download the music/albums they wish to get and even get perks such as additional tracks that are offered only to those who purchase the digital cards.
iTunes has been offering Digital Release Cards for sometime and Sony-BMG has their own Platinum Music Pass which is said to have the rest such as Best Buy and Target on their heel to be offering them soon. These cards would allow more and more people to sample the digital music revolution which is still new to some users. They offer digital download only available add-ons such as bonus tracks you don’t get on the original CD. They may need to hurry it up for physical music stores may be going extinct soon for studies are showing that by the year 2012, digital music sales would account for around 40% of all music related sales.
There seems to be lessening ground for these music stores for the ever-expanding reach of the internet which makes digital music possible. Piracy which still accounts for the majority of digital music’s problems is getting heat from all sides and is said to be addressed with the advent and introduction of more digital music copyright controls.
Tags: iTunes, Sony BMG Platinum Cards
Categories: Downloading Legally, Mobile Phones, Music, Providers, ipods
The Canadian Copyright Board is causing a stir when it announced that it has ruled that it will begin implementing taxation on music downloads from online sources. The board enacted the rule after the SOCAN (equivalent to the RIAA) pushed for such due to the increasing trade in pirated music. The board has already defied world economics when it ruled that the sale of digital media players was to be taxed in order to make people more responsible with their use. If only such measures were easy to implement in America and elsewhere (which the RIAA and MPAA are finding to be very much difficult if not impossible.
The new rule has online music stores (which would surely be increasing prices) pay a tax of 3.1 cents for each individual track that is downloaded off their web sites. For full album purchases a 1.5 cent tax is placed on ever song which would surely hurt the music download industry which has been booming in spite of the many illegal sources out on the internet. Such drastic measures might be the only solution to curb piracy which is now a global problem that defies borders. From Europe to Asia, the piracy problem has been a thorn in the side of movie, music and governments fro quite sometime. Let’s give it for the Canadians for getting in the news with outrageous solutions to the piracy problem.
Tags: Music Taxation, Taxes
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, ipods
In the USA, colleges and Universities are under strict orders to control and prevent the illegal sharing of files within the school’s networks. This would be quite difficult for school and university administrators due to the mere fact that almost 80% of all students use external access points to the internet. The aim is to curb piracy in their classrooms and lecture halls where most students have iPod’s plugged in loaded with pirated music. The rule applies mostly to those educational facilities which receive financial aid from the Federal Government but is causing much dismay from school administrators who will have to implement it or face reduced or revocation of government assistance.
The MPAA and RIAA say that millions of dollars of lost revenue due to shared and used music and movies by students who are in university. Such acts are hard to police and can only be controlled if the access is done through the school’s network itself. Policing each and every digital player, laptop and media player would be next to impossible and can be called an invasion of privacy. This is also seen as a source of unnecessary costs which would be spent on control measures to check for such activities and site blocking systems that would allow proper management and detection of such illegal files. Administrators recommend authorized sites such as Ruckus which is strictly for college students and faculty and many other local sources for their needs.
Students are the highest users of pirated songs and movies they get off the internet and legislators are taking notice of such activities. The law is quite broad and still needs refining for it to become realistic and applicable to their intended targets.
Tags: Colleges, Piracy, University
Categories: DVD Videos, Downloading Legally, Mobile Phones, Music, ipods
The problem why the practice has become so chronic, even with the well advertised penalization of serving 5 years of jail time plus $250,000 in fines is not stopping millions upon millions of people from sharing them over the internet. The problem may be in the internet itself and it can be likened to a water hose that hast several branches what was suddenly punched holes into leading to leakage. The weakness of the internet being so large and with its global reach, enforcement is not an easy task. There are laws and there are convictions in piracy cases yet people just take the risk to get at their favorite music. China, the world’s biggest country with almost a tenth of its population is a very big problem for they have long history of infringing on copyrights and other product designs. The advent of cheap digital Music players didn’t help either for they have spurred many of the younger generation to grab anything they can to stuff their gizmo’s with and use as they go throught the day. Their insatiable need for more drives the P2P piracy trade and it’s getting worse by the minute.
Take the toys industry for example, in a news brief I heard a few months back, you can have a toy fair in China with one stall having a doll with full features one day and tomorrow have all the hundreds of stalls offering the same products. Another incident involved a reputable furniture maker who went there to get supplies only to end up with sub-standard products no one would buy back home.
The root of the problem may be the internet itself and the only way to do that is to totally control it which is almost next to impossible. Most of us don’t feel the urge but the younger generation seems to be inclined on getting what they want when they want it. The world of digital music may not be the same without piracy for to some extent it is driving some to go legal. It may be illegal yet the trade goes on and artists feel robbed of much needed royalties and other benefits they get from their work. So, buy legal and when you do try to download, do it legally. Help support the artists and their work for tomorrow.
Tags: P2P, Piracy, Piracy trade
Categories: Downloading Legally, Mobile Phones, Music, ipods
Good news for promoters of Digital Music Rights, it seems like the newer generation of music fanatics are preferring more of the licensed audio CD’s they buy of stores as opposed to those they get of the internet. They say they prefer to get the best tracks of their favorite independent artists off the shelves where they can show of the artwork and get the bonus tracks as opposed to the totally legal tracks they get from ITunes or other sources that charge an average of $1.00 per song.
I mean, we still get the hottest tracks and music from P2P and other file sharing sites students say in an article from the Stanford Daily, yet they have a knack for supporting independent artists who do get to come out with nice music yet they are not available online due to lack of commercial backing. They may or may not have these songs form the other sources yet still opt to buy the real thing to allow their favorite artists to get the money they deserve to promote and improve their music, for who knows they might make it big someday.
These new additions to the digital age of music after the reason for the huge increase in the sales of audio CD are who suddenly feel the urge to go original. They are after the artwork and literature from the originals. They buy them of the shelves after having them for sometime off the internet wanting more from the artists that the digital forms can have. There are those who still go purely illegal, but the majority are beginning to see the light so to speak in terms of the advances their favorite artists get from the sponsorships and other stuff they earn off the legal stuff. Many students get music through ITunes which is one of the most popular music source and playback devices due to the iPod which is almost in every classroom. They accompany their users from the shower to the canteen to the gym when they are used again and again. Their small size makes them ideal for students who seem to love music from all genres and artists from all over as they seek distance form hectic school life.
Tags: Audio Cd's, DRM, Paid-Legal-Downloads
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, ipods
Hailed as the first and only dedicated download site for iPhone stuff such as downloads where you get movies, music, games, e-books and so much more, ready for download to your iPhone(well, maybe not totally true for you have iTunes, remember, the site owned by the one who made your iPhone?). Want to get content that is constantly updated through wireless, they have it plus many more bonus offers. A one time $50.00 registration gives you access to the best and latest iPhone stuff. The site is actually a P2P site which provides you with the necessary software and links you to the best music and videos on the planet. Though they give away the software for free and the user’s license you purchase gives you the right to use their service, it does not give you total rights to upload or download copyrighted stuff.
This is kind of the trend that P2P sites are turning to, now that media giants are after their tails accusing them of promoting piracy by allowing the uncontrolled sharing and swapping of music, videos, games and many other files which are subject to copyright law. These sits have grown in confidence and continue to do so for as the LA judge who ruled that P2P sites are not the culprits and that it is the user’s themselves who are the ones committing the dastardly act of piracy. That is why a visit to the legal notice page of all P2P site tells you that you, get it YOU are responsible for what you download or upload and you can get sued for doing so with no consequence to the P2P site which provided you the software and links when you do so. They give you access to all the best download sites for your needs. They will not provide you a burning software (for burning your downloaded DVD’s and they will not transfer them to your iPhone (what they give you is the converting software that makes the stuff you get useable on your iPhone). Check them out to get access to some of the hottest and best downloads, for iPhones that is and get your way to media bliss.
Tags: iPhone-Stuff, Paid-Download-Site
Categories: Applications, DVD Videos, Downloading Legally, Music, Photo Images, Podcasts, Resources, Videos, ipods
If one prefers music that is quite off the mainstream such as hip-hop and other minor groups, then Blastro is the site for you. In another attempt to get their music out onto the world to more and more people, artists who might not be under the huge financial umbrella of the major record labels have banded together to promote their own work. This has bee necessary for independent and small-time music labels who might have otherwise gone out of business due to lack of funding. Check out the site for some of the hottest tracks from your favorite artists from the Hip-Hop, R&B, Latin, Pop, Dance and other genres that are causing a stir in music circles all over the world.
Who says the best music comes from the biggest labels? They have it all, from the best to the good up and coming starts who are now only stepping out into the spotlight. They even have original shows such as the EbenGregory Presents and the Qdeezy Show bringing you some of the hottest news on your favorite hip-hop stars and many more. Hip-Hop, has remained in the realm of more independent studios and labels who have promoted and made them known to the world. Some have closed shop combining their efforts into a group to promote and find new talent that promise to make them a force to be reckoned with in the music scene and elsewhere. Check them out for the hottest and best free Hip-Hop music on the web.
Tags: Alternative-Source, Hip-Hop-Music
Categories: Mobile Phones, Music, Podcasts, Resources, Videos, ipods
I recently read the article on squidoo regarding the activities of these sites that say they offer free and unrestricted downloads of all types of music and movies. The article says they are scams and believe me many are for as long as I can remember in writing for this blog, I’ve come across tons of them.
Some sites offer free downloads at the beginning in exchange for subscriptions for their music service (which has declined in the recent years with the proliferation of P2P download sites that have all the latest tracks up for grabs). They give you a couple of tracks and then offer you more, for a fee of course. Some sites are totally commercial and have you subscribe up front to get access to their vast collection of stuff which is by the way the best one to go with for the music you get from them is considered to be licensed. The more devious sites hook you in, keep you on the line and pull you in along with the sinker and all. They do crazy stuff such as drop malware and viruses as they go exploiting vulnerabilities in your system’s configuration. They even contain stuff that shouldn’t even be available to those who don’t want or are not even interested in them (porn and other dirty stuff) without you even asking for it.
But along the way, I’ve come along some unexpected sites such as the BBC and other library sites facilities that have a lot of archived free stuff that you can get for personal use. The industry has stopped research and development into copyright protection for all types of media simply because they are futile and people still get them somewhere over the internet. Responsible users do respect the rights of the owners and buy licensed originals but there are just too many people who want it for free. Hackers make this possible with deep rooted hate towards industry for their ways and monopoly. Others, do it for hatred of the people who make the software and music so whatever the reason it might be left to the user to say enough is enough and initiate control over them (which is next to impossible) but we can make a change by starting on your own.
Tags: Free-music, Free-Stuff, Free-Video
Categories: Applications, Downloading Legally, Freeware, Mobile Phones, Music, Photo Images, Podcasts, Providers, Resources, Videos, ipods
These are the main promoters of protection for copyrighted music and movies in the United States which is moving for more control over the sharing of such material online. They might be backed by big business but they sure are making it difficult for many to get music that is not only royalty free but liability free. Many have tried and failed at this attempt but that doesn’t stop them from trying. They truly have the right to do so for the work they promote to protect are their own. We have heard about many issues regarding the matter and have been sick and tired of them ever since. There are a great deal of people who buy (really buy!!!) music for they realize the benefits of such. Added features such as free MTV’s and such give the small majority of legal owners of these music and videos value for the money they pay.
The problem started with the creation of the MP3 format for audio which revolutionized the way we keep and listen to music. Older WAV files took a lot of disk space and was kind of cumbersome to have stored on your hard drive. MP3’s allowed a full length song to have a average total size of around 3 to 4 megabytes opposed to their predecessor formats such as WAV that had them at around a couple of dozen megabytes limiting the amount of songs one can store. Other formats such as those used by proprietary software and Consumer electronics manufacturers have reduced the size even further but with some trade-offs such as sound quality and other issues. This would have been a good time to initiate control measures for as the issue was developing the internet was beginning to boom and spread to all corners of the earth. That meant, wherever you may be you can get your hands on the latest music files from a friend or a friend of your friend. P2P further muddled up the problem with people who are willing to share their songs in exchange for some they like from you formed communities and web sites that posted them as available for download straight from your computer’s hard drive. The proliferation of P2P download groups and sites (like Pirates Bay) were attacked and shut down by government people only to have them re-open in a couple of hours or days.
It might be too late to initiate control over media that is currently coming out of the market and being shared uncontrollably over the internet. The industry has suffered a great deal and those who buy original music are left without the edge ( the edge of being the first to own a copy of your favorite artist’s album). It may be too late, but we as users of the internet are left to be responsible in their use and sharing. We as parts of the greater internet community are expected to be responsible and accountable as such for without responsibility the internet would be a ruthless place to be in.
Tags: Copyright-Protection, MPAA, RIAA
Categories: Downloading Legally, Mobile Phones, Music, Podcasts, Providers, Resources, ipods
The company has been trying to move into the entertainment theater for quite sometime and they have managed to flop at each and every try. Why, their Apple TV venture is still struggling to make a profit with many customers expressing their opinions with the system’s lack of competitive and interesting content. The company has been trying to push streaming video and other content through the system but the amount of acceptable content has failed way below their promised mark. Many media giants have expressed interest but are still holding back as they try to see what the futuristic TV system that is hooked up to the internet rather than to a cable system is faring out.
