Mashboxx Inks Deals with Major Music Labels
Mashboxx plans to launch a bona fide P2P music service, inking agreements with both EMI Music and Sony BMG that will make artists such as Coldplay, Kate Bush, and the Rolling Stones available to its customers.
The file-sharing service offered by Mashboxx, which is expected to debut in the fall, will allow you to preview and purchase copyrighted tunes available on most major P2P networks. Mashboxx can identify and return search results for tracks that labels like EMI and Sony BMG have authorized for trade or sale. Users can then choose to sample tracks for free or purchase them as downloads.
With the sampler option, you can play full-length tracks up to five times. For the a la carte download option, tracks downloaded via Mashboxx can be burned onto CD up to seven times, played on five PCs, and transferred to Windows Media-compatible portable players an unlimited number of times.
By the Book
“Legal peer-to-peer services which offer consumers a great user experience and which compensate creators appropriately are good for music fans, good for artists, and good for the digital music market as a whole,” said David Munns, chairman and CEO of EMI Music North America, in a statement.
EMI will make its entire U.S. digital catalog available to Mashboxx, and to ensure that the music is delivered through legitimate P2P services.
Similarly, the agreement with Sony BMG allows Mashboxx users to trade and purchase music legally via searches performed on major existing P2P networks. Tracks will sell for $.99 each, and customers can preview tunes before buying.
Piracy Still Roaming the Web
While illegal file-sharing has been major headache for the recording industry, many popular sites, including
Napster and Kazaa, are going legit after facing daunting legal challenges. Kazaa recently reached an out-of-court settlement that included paying $100 million in compensation to the recording companies that initiated a court battle to stop copyright infringement.
The extent of enforcement actions has had some effect on illegal downloading, some analysts have reported, driving sales higher at legal music services. Many, however, are doubtful that piracy can be eliminated. Some reports suggest that illegal downloads are still continuing at a relatively fast clip.
“There are just too many tools and ways to exchange files, and these guys are smart enough to know how to use them,” said Yankee Group analyst Michael Goodman in a recent interview. “If e-mail is closed to them, they’ll go to instant-messaging clients. If that’s blocked off, they’ll resort to [other online venues].”
People seem to be sharing as much as they ever did, but are merely finding new ways to swap, Goodman noted. While it makes sense that those in the industry would put up roadblocks to protect their property, it also is reasonable to assume that some dedicated pirates will simply find ways to go around those barriers, Goodman added.
Jay Wrolstad, newsfactor.com
