| The world of media is changing - despite
the protests of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) - and streaming media
from the Internet has become more and more popular worldwide. In fact, those who were
savvy enough to get in on the Internet media revolution early -- such as Napster 2,
MusicMatch, and others -- are reporting record sales for 2003-2004.
So what's all the hype?
Well, a lot of illegal file sharing, especially of music
and video, coupled with lower sales overall for music and video (thanks to a sagging
economy) has put the recording and movie industries on the attack. Currently, RIAA has
over 3500 lawsuits in process or pending versus otherwise-ordinary Americans for sharing
files illegally via the Internet. The number of cases grows weekly.
At the same time, smart companies like MusicMatch, iTunes,
RealPlay, and others have licensed several hundred thousand songs and movies to resell on
the Internet as streaming or downloadable media to those who want to pay for them. With
songs at an average cost of less than $1 and full CDs of music at under the average $15
store price, downloadable media has become more popular than ever.
Why The Change?
The change in streaming media availability and the people
who ask for it (simple market economics of supply and demand) was brought about by the
proliferation of high-speed Internet connections. With a current estimation of 45% of
connected homes having a broadband connection in the US alone, it's easy to see how the
file sizes involved in downloading media have become less and less of a consideration for
consumers.
Ad to these factors the additional advent of better and
better compression technology to make those file sizes smaller and smaller, and you've got
a combination of reasons for online media to get more and more popular.
Where do I get the music?
Anyone with an Internet connection and a credit card to use
online can buy legal media. Several services offer streaming (play on demand,
"streaming" from the 'Net) and downloadable (so you can play it without being
connected) music and movies online.
With Apple's iTunes Radio (http://www.apple.com/itunes/ ),
for instance, you can stream over 1,000 Internet radio stations and through their music
store, you can play 30-second samples of each song and pay for each song you'd like to
download.
At MusicMatch (http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-1357406-9358552
), you can download and burn CDs of music for only 99 cents per song.
At the ReaplPlayer Music Store
(http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-1357406-10304550 ), you can stream, download, and even share
(via email playlists) music with your friends - all for a fee, of course. In fact, of the
services I checked out, RealPlayer has the most to offer in terms of music file types,
ways to play it (streaming, download, etc.) and so forth. Apple has threatened to sue
RealPlayer for offering music in Apple's proprietary DRM format-a fact that has many geeks
puzzled as Apple is supposedly the counter-culture, free-spirit alternative in computers.
Not to be outdone, Napster 2
(http://www.qksrv.net/click-1353518-8353202 ) debuted this year with both a streaming and
downloadable music store with one of the easiest to use layouts you'll find anywhere.
Napster has gone legal with a lot of style, that's for sure.
For free and less mainstream music, I prefer both
BetterPropaganda ( http://www.betterpropaganda.com ) and GarageBand.com (
http://www.garageband.com ). Both sites offer free downloads of music with reviews and
other interesting goodies too. Through these sites, I've become a fan of bands like Threat
Signal, Stigma, and Leftover Crack. Give them a try!
What about movies?
Renting movies online has never been easier either.
Although this concept is fairly new and hasn't become nearly as popular as music, it's
catching hold and getting there. There are really only two major players in this game,
though a third is rising fast.
Cinemanow (http://www.cinemanow.com ) has a lot of great
content, ranging from family cartoons to PG and PG-13 cinema all the way to commercial
pornography. The selection is huge, but is limited to streaming-only (no downloading for
later play). You can usually rent movies for 24 hours and play them as many times as you'd
like during that time.
Movielink (http://www.movielink.com ) offers most of the
major Hollywood productions you'll find at most video stores (like Blockbuster), but
doesn't have the diversity that Cinemanow does. On the up side, you can download movies
for later viewing and keep them for up to thirty days, so movies on the road or whenever
you don't have a 'Net connection are possible here.
The up-and-comer is Starz! Ticket (
http://www.starzticket.com ), which has a monthly subscription cost that allows you to
watch any (or all) of their movies whenever you'd like and you can download them for later
viewing (thirty days). However, they have only 100 movies online at any given time, so
selection is very limited for now.
For free movies (short films), my favorite is Atom Films (
http://atomfilms.shockwave.com ), where you'll find great cartoons, comedy, and other
shorts like "Olympics" and "Autobank." Try it out!!
Tres cool!
But of course it is. Now that you've found out what you're
broadband connection is REALLY for, go to town! Start surfing music and movie sites and
fill your hard drive with media! |