http://www.buydrm.com/ SpiralFrog Goes Belly Up We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience. Robin Wauters TechCrunch.com Friday, March 20, 2009; 1:46 AM Music startups sure don't seem to have it easy these days. Lawsuit after lawsuit is raining down on some of them, and legal threats, fierce competition but evidently also the economic downturn and the decline in digital advertising spending is forcing some companies to shut down altogether. The latest company to suffer that fate is venture capital-backed SpiralFrog, which quietly hit the deadpool yesterday after 5 years of existence. A source told CNET the service went under at about 4 p.m. PDT, and has been down ever since. The publication has been unable to reach anyone at SpiralFrog for comment, as have we, but claims the source said the startup issued secured notes in order to borrow at least $9 million from hedge funds and others last year to stay in business. Alas, it seems like all efforts to keep the company afloat have been in vain, causing another ad-supported free music download service to cease operations (recently a similar music service geared towards college students, Ruckus, pulled the plug). ad_icon Having raised as much as $12 million in VC and debt funding, the company made a splash in August 2006 (after 2 years in operations) when Universal Music made their entire music catalog available for free download through SpiralFrog, joined by EMI a month after. About a year after, SpiralFrog started handing out private beta invitations (what took them so long?), but we were already critical of the ad-supported digital DRM-tied music download strategy then: "I don?t know if SpiralFrog will be able to sustain their business off of on-site advertising and affiliate music sales." We covered the company again in January 2008 when SpiralFrog seemed to be doing fine, but the scene was changing and the company had to fend off a lot of competitors, including HypeMachine, RadioBlogClub, Deezer, InTune.fm, Mog, Last.fm, Imeem, etc. It didn't catch on enough with music fans, sinking the startup in a sea of debt obligations, which it was unable to repay in time. We'd like to relay the question CNET asks at the end of the source article: is the ad-supported music business facing a shake-out?
Many ad supported business, especially on the web, are facing shake-out. And those that have high overhead (in labor or, say, in paying fees to record companies, etc) are especially having problems. Typically online ad revenue is down and what Google ad money giveth, a lack of google ad money can taketh away. As far as music goes, unless you hate Microsoft or you need a music player to do a lot more than play music, I think their Zune Pass is worth looking into. Especially if there are more than one person in your family who is really into music. For $15 a month, I get 10 songs to download and keep forever and get to listen to all the rest of their music in their library for a month. And I can put it on 3 computers and 3 Zunes. For us, that is me, my wife, and my oldest son. It is really good if you listen to a lot of different types of music. You can't play the music on other mp3 players, though. So, if you need your mp3 player to be a phone and a web browser and a gaming platform, it is probably not the best choice. Some people also find the Zunes a little flaky but none of ours have had any issues over the last year and a half. Also, if you are the type person who listens to the same 12 songs for 6 months and has no desire to find other music, it probably is not a good deal. But, in my house, I can;t think of a better way to keep the 3 of us - who each have vastly different musical tastes - legally listening to any music we want for $15 a month.
I have loathed iTunes, it bites the big one. Unfortunately I have an iPod that I got for my birthday. When my old PC bought the farm, it was a complete PITA to get the music files restored to my new PC from the iPod. Normally I don't use the iPod, but listen to music on my PC, but when I am overseas I listen to it, because until now I didn't bring my laptop.
you accessment isn't correct. Do back and look at the license and the DRM restriction. As for the legality of Music, it is legal. All music is legal. ANd listening hasn't yet been outlawed. Ruben
You can do anything you want to with the 10 songs you get to keep each month, forever. You own those. There is no limit on how many computers you put them on, they play on any mp3 player, etc. The 3 computer/3 Zune thing is only a limitation for the music you rent. Kind of like if Netflix let you keep one DVD each month whether you continued their subscription or not.
I am sorry but, unless your Zune Pass works differently than mine, I believe you you are incorrect. Since November, I have been using my 10 free songs to download a number of albums. The songs I have downloaded that way are all drm free mp3s. The 10 free songs a month addition to the service that they introduced in November are not the same as the Zune Pass songs that are rented. The ones I want to keep, I have to re-download so they do not have the drm restrictions that the Zune Pass formatted songs have. "Microsoft have tweaked their Zune Pass subscription service to include a number of free-to-keep tracks every month, which users can continue to play even if their subscription lapses. From today, Zune Pass users will be able to select up to ten tracks each month to be kept in DRM-free MP3 format" http://www.slashgear.com/10-free-mp3s-per-month-for-zune-pass-subscribers-2023523/ "Microsoft has announced that its online music service, Zune Pass, will now give subscribers the option to select up to 10 DRM-free tracks every month (valued at approximately $10)." http://mp3.about.com/b/2008/11/21/zune-pass-subscribers-to-get-free-monthly-reward.htm
I'm sorry Joe, I'm not incorrect. We've been watching the development of that project from the time it was on the drawing board. Those files are DRM infested. When I can throw them on my TSR 80 and play them then I'll know they aren't. Ruben
And when I can find something I can't do with those 10 songs a month, then I will believe you over my own experience and all the news sources I have read. The Zune Marketplace has changed quite a bit over the years and so has the Zune Pass. They have had a lot of different agreements with the music companies. Now, something like 90% of the music they offer is available in drm-free MP3s as well as the drm-encoded versions.
I am not sure I understand your question. I am not re-downloading anything that I already own. I only have to re-download the rental songs that I want to get in a drm-free mp3 version.
