republican-creole
Search:  

 
 
   News
newer
story category $25 For All You Can Eat Music?
Universal and Virgin Media strike new deal
02:06PM Monday Jun 15 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: business · alternatives · world · content · consumers
Tipped by Revcb See Profile
UK broadband operator Virgin Media has struck a deal with Universal that offers subscribers unlimited access to Universal's music catalog for 10-15 pounds ($16.30-$24.50) a month. According to Paid Content UK, Virgin will temporarily ("a few minutes to a few hours") disconnect P2P users who don't play along with the idea, but Virgin won't be tracking P2P usage themselves. Instead, the entertainment industry will do the monitoring "using third-party tools designed to track P2P transfers." Virgin says they're engaging in "suspension" not "disconnection." A year ago Virgin said there was "absolutely no possibility" they would be disconnecting Internet users.

Related:
  1. Confirmed: Pirate Bay to Charge Users
  2. Nobody's Complaining About Comcast's New Throttling
  3. DSL Vs. Carrier Pigeon
  4. Verizon's New Wireless Pricing Is An Insult
  5. What Network Neutrality Is REALLY About
  6. Cable Industry: Shucks, Guess Nobody Wants CableCARDs
  7. Despite Criticism, ESPN360 Broadband Model Spreads
  8. Google Voice Lets You Use Your Existing Number
Forums » $25 For All You Can Eat Music?
view: topics flat text 
Post a:

baineschile
2600
Premium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

P00

God forbid I want to hear music from an artist that ISNT signed with Universal.

Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Napster

Isn't Napster like $9.99 a month for ALL labels?

espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
·voip.ms
·Vitelity VOIP
·Callcentric
·VoiceStick
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
·Embarq

Re: Napster

said by Matt See Profile :

Isn't Napster like $9.99 a month for ALL labels?
$5 a month for streaming audio, and that includes 5 MP3 downloads a month for songs you can permanently own.

The new Napster plans are a pretty darn good deal.

funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Skype

Re: Napster

I just checked out Napster with two groups that I thought I might not find (The Blenders and Cadence) -- they're there! I'm impressed!

Is everything that is available via search available as a downloadable MP3 track?
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- District of Columbia -- KJ7RL

espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
·voip.ms
·Vitelity VOIP
·Callcentric
·VoiceStick
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
·Embarq


1 edit

Re: Napster

said by funchords See Profile :

I just checked out Napster with two groups that I thought I might not find (The Blenders and Cadence) -- they're there! I'm impressed!
Yeah, their library is surprisingly complete. There has been little I've been unable able to find in their library -- even what I would consider to be somewhat obscure stuff like short orchestral / choir scores like The Immediate - Trailerhead disc. (scores written to be used in movie trailers, awesome for making videos)

When I was in Vegas last year I was given tickets to Cirque Du Soleil Mystere, and even the live CD from that show was up for download on Napster.

said by funchords See Profile :

Is everything that is available via search available as a downloadable MP3 track?
Yeah, everything you can search on is available to be downloaded / purchased from Napster. The only minor frustration is that some songs are only streamable as 30 second clips due to record label shenanigans, but all those tracks remain purchasable either for $0.99/ea or one of the track credits.

The only gotcha with the $5 plan is your 5 downloads expire every month if you don't use them. For that reason I signed up with the 12 month plan, you get 70 download credits (60 standard + 10 bonus) and you get a year to burn through them.

funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC

Re: Napster

There ya go, Virgin & Universal, that's the way to do this.

BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN


1 edit
said by espaeth See Profile :

The only gotcha with the $5 plan is your 5 downloads expire every month if you don't use them. For that reason I signed up with the 12 month plan, you get 70 download credits (60 standard + 10 bonus) and you get a year to burn through them.
That's bullshit. LINK?

espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
·voip.ms
·Vitelity VOIP
·Callcentric
·VoiceStick
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
·Embarq

Re: Napster

said by BF69 See Profile :

That's bullshit. LINK?
What's bullshit about it?

Link: »blog.napster.com/napster/2009/05···cks.html

meister_sd
Premium
join:2006-01-29
La Mesa, CA

said by funchords See Profile :

Is everything that is available via search available as a downloadable MP3 track?
I had a subscription a while ago, and all the songs I got were 128k bitrate. I wish they were at 320k, might have changed but I don't think so.

espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
·voip.ms
·Vitelity VOIP
·Callcentric
·VoiceStick
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
·Embarq

Re: Napster

said by meister_sd See Profile :

said by funchords See Profile :

Is everything that is available via search available as a downloadable MP3 track?
I had a subscription a while ago, and all the songs I got were 128k bitrate. I wish they were at 320k, might have changed but I don't think so.
The purchased tracks are 256kbps CBR MP3s.
Desdinova

join:2003-01-26
Gaithersburg, MD

*sigh* It seems some of my tastes are REALLY obscure; I can't find three artists I've been looking for: Randy Andy, The Earons, and Gary O. I have 'em all on vinyl but finding a good MP3 (or even better, a CD) has proven impossible so far. Looks like I'll have to break the lazy streak and just rip the LPs one day...

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

said by espaeth See Profile :

The new Napster plans are a pretty darn good deal.
Long as you keep paying.
--
When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee

Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..

Re: Napster

said by dvd536 See Profile :

said by espaeth See Profile :

The new Napster plans are a pretty darn good deal.
Long as you keep paying.
I had Napster a few years ago and this is what got me. I don't spend $9.99/month or even $5.99/month solely on music. I may purchase 1 or 2 songs a month, but I can see how this would be a great deal for heavy music listeners.

espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
·voip.ms
·Vitelity VOIP
·Callcentric
·VoiceStick
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
·Embarq

said by dvd536 See Profile :

said by espaeth See Profile :

The new Napster plans are a pretty darn good deal.
Long as you keep paying.
Did you not read the offer?

For $5 you get 5 non-DRM MP3 tracks that you keep permanently, and unlimited access to their streaming library. Yeah, if you quit paying you lose access to the library, but you are no worse off than if you had dropped that $5 at iTunes or Amazon at $0.99/song.
deadzoned
Premium
join:2005-04-13
Baton Rouge, LA

Expensive

Wow, that is a pretty expensive price to pay to get access to a limited catalog of music that will be monitored by the Entertainment Industry using "third party tools".

Gbcue
E.I.T.
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
·T-Mobile US
·Skype
·Dreamhost
·Comcast
·AT&T U-Verse

Re: Expensive

said by deadzoned See Profile :

Wow, that is a pretty expensive price to pay to get access to a limited catalog of music that will be monitored by the Entertainment Industry using "third party tools".
Yeah but the labels doesn't know anything else *but* expensive.

Look at the price of a CD.
--
My BLOG!
Black Friday Ads
BBBanditRuR

join:2009-06-02
Parachute, CO
·Comcast
·Qwest.net

Disconnects?

Virgin will temporarily ("a few minutes to a few hours") disconnect P2P users who don't play along with the idea, but Virgin won't be tracking P2P usage themselves. Instead, the entertainment industry will do the monitoring "using third-party tools designed to track P2P transfers." Virgin says they're engaging in "suspension" not "disconnection.
Wha?

They are disconnecting users and claiming they aren't engaging in disconnection policy?

Why does this seem fishy, like the RIAA forcing Virgin's hand, or the media conglomerates getting their way with ISP's being net-nannies. Napster, Amazon, Rhapsody etc... have good plans or deals for music. Sure this one's unlimited, but really, where's the deal besides getting booted. What if you P2P legit stuff? Do you still get booted? I'm just confused to where the deal really is. This certainly doesn't seem to benefit the ISP or the consumer.

jmn1207
Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA
·Verizon FIOS

Re: Disconnects?

Last I heard, Rhapsody was not available outside the US, and that is a shame.

I pay an annual subscription fee and absolutely love the service. I would have spent over $2000 per year to enjoy the same number of songs with something like Amazon or iTunes.

I used to record all of the songs so that I could then make CD's for my car and listen to music away from the computer, but now my MP3 player can be used in my car and I have an HD DVR that can play my Rhapsody library through my entertainment system.

It's the perfect solution to find new music. I've had all my old favorites for years on CD, and I still listen to some of this music through Rhapsody, but mostly I am interested in hearing new things and discovering genres and artists that I would not otherwise be able to find. Being limited to an exclusive label would seem far too restricting.

damonlab
Premium
join:2001-05-02
Detroit, MI
clubs:

youtube?

Why exactly would people choose to pay for this instead of using youtube for free?

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus

join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
·Qwest.net

Phooey

My tastes in music not really main stream. iTunes rarely has stuff I am looking for, Neoclassical, Cello metal, symphonic black Metal, new age, synpop, electronica, Fusion jazz, world fusion etc. These all you can eat plans don't cover me.
--
I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
- Mark Twain in Eruption
Mr Matt

join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
·Comcast
·Embarq

No Judicial Oversite

Let's see, if a subscriber does not pay an outrageous monthly fee for using P2P, the entertainment industry will file a complaint with the ISP to have their service disconnected without judicial oversight.

I guess that Virgin is going to play the same game as the Parasites at the RIAA using their shake down demand letters. Spend $10,000.00 or more defending your innocence in civil court or pay us our discounted shake down price. The RIAA's M.O. is that the subscriber is guilty until they prove their innocence. The fair thing to do is require the entertainment voles to pay a broadband subscriber say $100,000.00 plus attorney fees if the monitoring agency is found to have made a false accusation. That will be a good way to force the entertainment industry to improve accuracy before a complaint is filed.

By the way do not forget to send the entertainment parasites a check if you listen to music over the radio.
BBBanditRuR

join:2009-06-02
Parachute, CO

Re: No Judicial Oversite

No kidding. My point exactly. No due process. No way in hell I'm going to believe the validity of the so-called data collected from 3rd parties.

jchambers28

join:2007-05-12
Alma, AR

better idea

how about FREE!

Fireblade

join:2008-08-27
St Catharines, ON

Re: better idea

I'll stick with my Usenet + SSL for all my digital needs, thanks!
--
I love fish sticks. I love putting fish sticks in my mouth.

King P
Don't blame me. I voted for Ron Paul
Premium
join:2004-11-17
Inman, SC
·Windstream
·Charter Pipeline

Meh..

I'll stick with Zune Pass. For 14.99/month I get unlimited downloads, plus 10 freebies each month...essentially paying 4.99/month for unlimited downloads from Major and Indie labels.
--
My Music blog:
»www.zunetracks.net
progrocktv

join:2009-04-27

I can see it now...

...Virgin disconnecting downloaders of “legal” tracks of non-Virgin or non-Universal artists and citing “Piracy”. How will Virgin track these and filter out which files are legal(I’m afraid though the above will ring true and anything not put out by these two labels will automatically be tagged as “Illegal”)
bronxlcsw

join:2005-09-21
Bronx, NY

Re: I can see it now...

Hmmmmmm..... unlimited downloads from Napster as streams? Can these streams be "intercepted" by say a program like Tunebite and re-recorded as unprotected mp3 file??

asdfdfdfdfdfdfdf

@Level3.net

The original "virgin music unlimited"/playlouder initiative

that was cancelled, at the last minute, earlier this year was a better approach.

Why do they have to "launch a service"?
It sounds like the industry still wants to control servers.

They should just license p2p use in exchange for a monthly fee and let the customers carry their distribution cost. In return the customer could use any software and any format they want and there wouldn't be this continued nonsense of trying to obliterate p2p. This would have been more like the initial approach. Of course the industry balked at the last minute and has now come out with something that I am much more suspicious of and find much less compelling, not to mention that only universal appears to be part of it.
Is this going to turn into $20 per month per label with continued assaults on p2p and attempts to threaten users?

I don't see how people can like this idea and dislike the far superior collective licensing of p2p approach.

FiL
Premium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD

hmmm

Nah. I'll just stick to Frostwire and my DL savviness.
GameGuy369

join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs:

My stance

My opinion on this is simple. I have a fantastic audio system in my car, for my computer, and for my home theatre setup.

And the bottom line is, I can download for FREE (illegally) better quality than I would if I bought it (unless I drop $15 on a CD).

Give me higher quality stuff, and a decent price, and I will come back.
Forums » $25 For All You Can Eat Music?


Sunday, 08-Nov 05:20:50 Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Hosting by www.nac.net - DSL,Hosting & Co-lo | feedback | contact
over 10 years online! © 1999-2009 dslreports.com.