May 30, 2005
Volume 9, Issue 3
MusicMagic Mixer Software
Excerpted from Report in DAP Review by Lone
Even though there are dozens of options when it comes to music software, every once in a while something unique pops up that is worth checking out; case in point, MusicMagic Mixer (MMM) by DCIA Member Predixis, software that analyzes individual music tracks and then creates dynamic playlists based on their attributes.
As opposed to rule-based playlists ("smart playlists" in iTunes, "automatic playlists" in Windows Media Player 10), which rely exclusively on ID3 tags, MMM actually scans each song and obtains a digital fingerprint of the track. It recognizes what instruments are being used, speed, style, etc.
Setting up a playlist is easy. Simply select an artist, album, or song, and hit 'Mix' to create a playlist based on attributes. The 'Options' menu supports adjusting the size of the mix by number of tracks, total time, or total megabytes, plus alter variety and artist style. Once a playlist is created, it can be shuffled and saved as a .m3u file, meaning it is compatible with most DAPs and media players.
While MMM's big draw is its analyzing and mixing capabilities, that's not all it can do. It can also batch edit ID3 tags, and manage music on portable devices that are seen as removable storage drives in Windows.
The tagging interface is simple and useful, and is similar in function to iTunes and Windows Media Player 10. The 'Device" feature available on the retail version itself is pretty straightforward. It works with any USB mass storage device (DAPs with the feature include iRiver, iAudio, Archos, and more) and, when connected, MMM displays all songs and .m3u playlists on the device for easy editing of ID3 tags or editing/creating of mixes.
Predixis' MusicMagic Mixer is clearly aimed at music fans that spend lots of time creating and editing playlists in programs like iTunes and Winamp. It's simple, efficient, and unlike smart-playlisting, its analysis method doesn't require perfect ID3 tags to be effective.
Billboard Taps BigChampagne for P2P
Excerpted from Digital Music News Report
Data from file-sharing networks continues to grow in importance, with Billboard Radio Monitor the latest to incorporate rankings from DCIA industry data resource BigChampagne. The new relationship, announced Tuesday, will position top P2P song rankings from BigChampagne alongside a long list of radio charts. But the deal will also start to analyze the connection between radio play and P2P file-sharing, with micro-market analyses part of the package.
For BigChampagne, the deal is just one of several syndication arrangements, and closely follows a tie-up with media measurement company Nielsen Entertainment. Both companies are owned by VNU Media, with Nielsen supplying Billboard with detailed broadcast data through its monitoring arm BDS (Broadcast Data Systems).
Next for BitTorrent: Search
Excerpted from Wired Report by Kevin Poulsen
Whiz kid inventor Bram Cohen and a small cadre of developers and entrepreneurs are in the final stage of launching an advertising-supported search engine dedicated to cataloging and indexing the thousands of movies, music tracks, software programs and other files for download over Cohen's popular BitTorrent protocol.
The free search tool will be the first large-scale commercial offering from BitTorrent, a five-person company headed by Cohen that so far has drawn most of its revenue from T-shirt sales and PayPal donations.
The ranked search results will be accompanied by sponsored links provided through a partnership with Oakland, California, company Ask Jeeves, says Ashwin Navin, BitTorrent's chief operating officer. BitTorrent will make money from each clickthrough. "Ask Jeeves syndicates our advertising products to many different sites, and BitTorrent will be one of them," confirmed Ask Jeeves spokeswoman Darcy Cobb.
Navin demonstrated the service for Wired News last week at BitTorrent's temporary headquarters, a small, one-room San Francisco office shared with Navin's last venture, an import/export firm called GSI Group. Surrounded by pallets of imported playing cards and poker chips, Navin fired up a browser on his laptop and typed "Mozilla" into the BitTorrent search box. The search quickly produced a site offering torrents for the free browser.
The search engine is expected to go live within two weeks, according to Navin. It will live on BitTorrent, the website from which Cohen distributes the open-source software that has changed the way netizens distribute and connect with content online.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Participants in the emerging distributed computing industry deserve credit for their many accomplishments and significant progress despite the opposition they continue to face.
Many of our most cutting-edge pioneers are small entrepreneurial start-ups without the major resources of their opponents.
This is not to say that all challenges have been met or that all actions taken have contributed to the industry's commercial development, but substantial results are now being generated and the overall direction is positive. Lead stories in DCINFO this week, for example, demonstrate the tumultuousness surrounding BitTorrent's advancement.
The DCIA has no interest in perpetuating the unproductive conflict that has unfortunately become standard operating procedure between major entertainment interests and current generation leading peer-to-peer (P2P) software distributors. Our mission is to help solve outstanding problems so that P2P can become a fully authorized channel with business models that compensate rights holders on terms that are acceptable for file-sharing transactions.
There continue to be myths that need to be debunked, however, many of which are intentionally promulgated by industry opponents. These range from blatant exaggerations about the nature of material consumers choose to redistribute given the relatively recent availability of the unfettered mass medium of P2P, which enables the sharing of an unprecedented variety of content, to inaccurate claims as to the harms of unauthorized replication and retransmission of copyrighted popular music to businesses that are based on exploitation of such rights.
On a purely quantifiable basis, the types and formats of files traded via P2P reflect the same basic proportions as are in circulation offline, with a slight skew towards smaller audio files as a function of legacy bandwidth and storage limitations, and this in turn represents nothing more than holding up a mirror to society's tastes. Empirical research continues to demonstrate that P2P serves more as a medium for discovering and sampling popular music than as a substitute for purchasing it.
More importantly, improvements continue to be made in approaches that can lead to the full legitimization of the P2P channel for licensed music, including on what is arguably the most enlightened basis – file-by-file – involving a combination of added-value components to enhance licensed versions of music files (e.g. by packaging them with ring-tones, music videos, album art, etc.) and an inundation of multiple versions of licensed files at the top of relevant searches to displace unauthorized alternatives.
As is true of the digital realm generally, P2P file-sharing technologies open up possibilities that at first can be perceived as highly threatening to the status quo of established business models and entrenched infrastructures. In the fullness of time, the exponentially higher efficiencies and greatly expanded opportunities for both creators and consumers of a host of new products and services will come to overshadow this initially awkward and, in the case of P2P, unnecessarily prolonged period of adjustment.
P2P is not just about ensuring that the last century's successful aggregators of catalogs and libraries of copyrighted entertainment can continue to profit from their content collections. It is much broader than that.
It should be clear by now that Apple's non-P2P digital music play with iTunes was a bargain struck to help sell iPods on the one hand, and to reinforce the retail price-point for CD sales on the other. A la carte track music downloads do not represent an impressive use of online capabilities, much less an indication of what distributed computing technologies can contribute in the way of revolutionary growth of popular music along multiple dimensions.
To be fair, the centralized online music stores have received the full support of major labels; they have cleared more than a million top music titles for licensing; they have expanded beyond the sale of rudimentary digital rights management (DRM) secured files to also support subscriptions; they have attracted relatively large investments from capital markets; they have expended hundreds of millions of dollars in branding and marketing programs from established companies; and they have created real choice for consumers with Apple, Napster, RealNetworks, Yahoo, and others now competing.
By contrast, P2P companies as well as P2P users have been confronted with the full-scale resistance of major labels ranging from well-financed smear campaigns to ongoing waves of lawsuits against both companies and consumers; they have cleared only thousands of indie music titles for licensing so far; they have not yet launched any music subscription services; they have not attracted significant capital investments; they have not spent significant dollars on marketing programs; but they have done an excellent job providing choice to consumers with the top-ten P2P software programs competing aggressively for market share, despite the minuscule size and severely limited resources of the companies that distribute them, and literally hundreds of niche P2P software programs are now available globally.
In many ways it is remarkable that despite these handicaps, P2P has already done as well as it has. Most companies that are engaged in P2P distribution of licensed content see their projected volumes, of both units and revenue, at least doubling for 2005 over their actuals for 2004, and there are regular reports of new content creators and rights holders entering the P2P market daily.
This is despite the fact that this is the third consecutive year that no licensed music tracks owned by the major labels are yet distributed on P2P. The majors claim to control more than ninety percent of US music sales. Other things being equal, licensed music distribution on P2P should therefore not be expected to exceed 10% of audio files traded. This makes the success of the emerging and independent P2P artists all the more remarkable, since they have to compete with freely distributed works of better known and more in-demand artists signed by the majors.
The growth in the percentage of licensed tracks to unauthorized music content in P2P is a tribute both to the ingenuity and resourcefulness of independent artists distributing via P2P and to the potency of file sharing as a frictionless medium for connecting artists directly with their fans.
Licensed P2P allows independent performers to access music lovers in a multitude of new ways to promote and monetize their works by employing a host of packaging and presentation techniques and viral marketing tactics that surpass the relative rigidity of centralized online stores like iTunes.
The distributed computing industry is on the cusp of having one or more such independent artists break through to stardom without the entourage of support personnel and services typically associated with the old music business models. This will mark a memorable turning point and we look forward to it. Stay tuned.
US Shuts Down Elite Torrents
Excerpted from Reuters Report
US law enforcers said on Wednesday that they have shut down a computer network that distributed illegal copies of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" before it appeared in movie theaters.
Federal agents executed 10 search warrants and seized the main server computer in a network that allowed people to download nearly 18,000 movies and software programs, including many current releases, the FBI and Homeland Security Department said.
The Elite Torrents network relied on a technology called BitTorrent that allows users to quickly download digital movies and other large files by copying them from many computers at once.
The network signed up 133,000 members who collectively downloaded 2.1 million files, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department.
Visitors to the Web site on Wednesday saw a notice that read, "This site has been permanently shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement."
The raid targeted administrators of the network and those who provided movies and other copyrighted material. Similar cases in the past have found that such "first providers" are typically entertainment-industry insiders, rather than outside hackers.
Elite Torrents offered a "virtually unlimited" selection of material, ICE said. The latest Star Wars movie was available on the network more than six hours before it was first shown in theaters, and within 24 hours it was copied more than 10,000 times.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), an industry group, helped with the investigation, ICE said. Movie studios are trying to avoid the fate of the music industry, which claims it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales due to online file sharing.
Digital movies are about 50 times larger than music files, which makes them more cumbersome to download. New technologies like BitTorrent, however, and increased high-speed Internet use are closing the gap.
The MPAA has managed to shut down at least five BitTorrent networks through lawsuits and has also sued individuals who use them.
File Sharing War Far From Over
Excerpted from TechRepublic Report by Jonathan Yarden
Regardless of the media hype, you can't blame the Internet for the illegal copying of music and software; its existence long predates the Web's explosion in popularity. The Internet and peer-to-peer (P2P) services have only served as an accomplice to illegal file copying, simplifying the process and making it easier to find more media to pilfer.
But you can't argue that the World Wide Web did anything to slow it down either. Napster, Grokster, Kazaa, and other P2P applications introduced hundreds of thousands of users to the practice of sharing digital media.
Organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the MPAA responded by identifying the centralized file distribution points and shutting them down. At first, this was technically an easy solution.
However, with the emergence of P2P "swarming" applications, such as BitTorrent, the battle against illegal distribution of digital media has reached a crossroads.
By exchanging only portions of files, BitTorrent users work together as a "swarm" to distribute files in a quicker, more efficient manner that also eliminates centralized file locations.
And BitTorrent isn't the only swarming P2P method out there. Newer, more resilient swarming P2P applications are under development, specifically designed to circumvent weaknesses in BitTorrent.
That means government legislation could potentially go into effect that would require ISPs to police the activities of their customers in order to prevent illegal file sharing. Such a scenario could have all sorts of implications, particularly when it comes to privacy concerns.
But that doesn't mean such laws won't emerge, nor does it guarantee legislators won't set their sights on companies as well as ISPs. In addition, newer P2P swarming applications will almost certainly include features to hide their activity, making it practically impossible to comply with such a law.
File sharing is much like speeding: Given the opportunity, most people will chance it. And while most drivers get away with it most of the time, no one has yet required automobile makers to include features in cars that automatically report speeders – a comparable request to asking ISPs to police their own customers.
But don't expect the recording, movie, and software industries to give up easily – this battle has just begun. And that means it's more important than ever that organizations establish, and enforce, well-defined policies that address file-sharing practices.
Coming Events of Interest
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New Media 101 – Panel Discussion and Q&A on June 1st from 7 to 9 PM in Swayduck Auditorium at The New School for Social Research in NYC. Come and learn in straightforward, broad, non-technical language about what new media really is and how it will transform content development. This panel discussion will include a basic overview of the iTV, VoD, PVR, Web & wireless aspects of the new media world. Panelists will provide their insights into the language of emerging media, and its relevance in today's entertainment landscape.
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Emerging Business Models in Digital Music – Join this discussion and networking event produced by the Entertainment and Telecom Practice of Greenberg Traurig, ThinkAndLink, and AllAccessGroup, with featured speakers co-author of "The Future of Music" Gerd Leonhard, co-author of "The Art of Digital Music" Kelli Richards, and Greenberg Traurig's Judith O'Neill, at the MefLife Building in NYC on June 2nd at 6 PM.
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OMMA WEST Conference & Expo – MediaPost presents two days of workshops and keynotes with more than 50 of the industry's knowledge leaders addressing search, behavioral targeting, and cross-media integration, June 6th-7th in San Francisco. Consider the industry's most vital debates: how to re-aggregate media which has dis-integrated, and how to market in an era of consumer control. Take home tools and knowledge of immediate value with focused conference tracks for media, marketing, advertising and online publishing.
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Digital Media Summit - DCIA Member Trymedia Systems' SVP Gabe Zichermann and industry data resource BigChampagne's COO Adam Toll will be featured speakers at iHollywood Forum's 4th annual Digital Media Summit being held at the Universal Hilton in LA June 7th-8th. This conference is for senior executives whose businesses involve generating revenue from creation, distribution, and delivery of digital content, services, and media.
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DCIA Summer Meeting – The DCIA will hold its Summer 2005 Meeting on Thursday evening, June 16th, from 7 to 9 PM, at the Hilton McLean in Tysons Corner, McLean, VA. This meeting will focus on advancing commercial solutions for P2P distribution of entertainment content. A light buffet dinner will be served. Non-Member Registration Fee: $75 prior to 6/1, $100 thereafter. No charge to registered Digital Media Conference delegates. Please contact DCIA Member Services leader Karen Kaplowitz at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info for more information.
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Digital Media Conference – The 2nd annual Washington Digital Media Conference is set for Friday June 17th at the Hilton McLean in Tysons Corner. This is a must-attend event for media, entertainment, and technology businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies involved in the digital distribution of media, including information, education & entertainment products. More than 300 digital media industry decision-makers and policy-makers attended the 2004 conference. Featured speakers this year include DCIA Member representatives Les Ottolenghi, CEO of INTENT MediaWorks, Tom Meredith, CEO of P2P Cash, Marc Freedman, CEO of RazorPop, Russ Reeder, CEO of RightsLine, Phil Corwin, US lobbyist for DCIA Member Sharman Networks, and DCIA Best Practices leader Elaine Reiss.
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DRM Strategies Conference – Jupitermedia's comprehensive event on digital rights management business and technology issues will be held July 27th-28th at the Puck Building in NYC. This is a must-attend for those involved in content security in both consumer media distribution and information security. The conference will feature leading industry figures who will introduce the fundamentals of DRM, shed light on future DRM directions, and provide incendiary debate on today's controversial issues of online piracy and digital copyright.
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Technology Law Institute – A Digital Media Rights panel will be featured September 20th at the Headquarters of the State Bar of Georgia, in downtown Atlanta, GA. Kilpatrick & Stockton's James Trigg will moderate with speakers Miles O'Brien from CNN, Kevin Lapidus from YellowBrixx, and Marty Lafferty from the DCIA.
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