May 24, 2005

Followup to Ed Christman Billboard article

Last week we posted nice article by Ed Christman on music kiosk business. Within the billboard article were two sidebars which did not show up in the electronic logs.


By Ed Christman of Billboard
Burning Question: Full Albums or Compilations?

A key debate is shaping up over whether the machines should be used for creating song compilations�as many label executives believe�or for manufacturing out-of-stock albums.

Do you burn a deep catalog album and make a lot of money, or do you do the customized compilation as most expect.

The kiosk model can't be dependent on "five to 10 customers a day making their own compilations," MICS president Gene Fein says. "That is not a business."

Supply chain issues enter into the equation and the article goes on to present two different point of views, both of which are valid.


Copy Protection: Not An Issue Yet

Copy protection at the CD level (and with GE media) is still not an issue at the kiosk level but copy protection to a mobile device is definitely on the radar (and mandatory).

One of the problems is that the labels would like to use Janus DRM from Microsoft however most of the portable devices do not support it. That's a dilemma.

Plus Microsoft still requires a personal computer to unlock the mobile device (less than optimum).

We get to wait...

Posted by keefner at May 24, 2005 02:18 AM