Petteri Pyyny
12 Jul 2001 14:10
As predicted earlier, Microsoft and Pressplay (joint digital music venture of Sony and Vivendi Universal), inked a distribution deal. Microsoft will promote service through its MSN Music service and Pressplay in other hand will be using Microsoft's Windows Media format and Microsoft's digital rights management technology.
It seems that working together with MusicNet (joint digital music venture of EMI, AOL TimeWarner and BMG) just got much harder, because RealNetworks is the technology provider of MusicNet service and Microsoft is not the technology provider of Pressplay -- and everybody knows that these two companies are the current software business' "major enemies" now after Microsoft crushed Netscape in late '90s. But dividing customers in two separate camps without offering full scale of music from all five major record labels might be the ultimate flaw in labels' digital music plan.