PressPlay
 2002 logo | |
| Company type | Joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online music |
| Founded | May 2001 |
| Defunct | May 19, 2003 |
| Owner | Universal Music,Sony Music |
PressPlay(stylisedpressplay[1]) was the name of anonline music storethat operated from December 2001[2]until March 2003. It was created as ajoint venturebetweenUniversal Music GroupandSony Music Entertainmentin response to the popularity ofNapster.[3]
Universal and Sony created PressPlay rather than joiningRealNetworks' online serviceMusicNet,which had signedBMG,EMIandAOL Time Warner.[4]It was originally announced under the nameDuetin May 2001[5]and launched as PressPlay in December 2001.
Apart from Universal and Sony, the service carried some music from BMG, EMI and Warner, as well as variousindependent labels.[citation needed]It was branded for multiple services, most notablyYahoo.[6]
The service allowed users 500 low-quality[7]audio streams inDRMedWindows Media Audio,[2]50 song downloads and 10 songs burnt to CD, for $15 a month. It could also build and store users' playlists. Not every song could be downloaded, and users could not burn more than two tracks from the same artist to CD.[7]Downloads expired after 30 days.[5]Songs could not be transferred to a portable player.[6]
Artists were paid around $0.0023 (0.23 of a cent) per song. Many artists, outraged at this rate and stating their songs were being used without proper permission, sought to have their music removed from the service unless they were paid a licensing fee rather than a CD-style royalty.[3]
Even before it was launched, the restrictions meant the service was not attractive to consumers.[2]PressPlay and rival MusicNet were given the shared 9th place inPC World's2006 list of the "25 Worst Tech Products of All Time", which stated that "the services' stunningly brain-dead features showed that the record companies still didn't get it".[7]
Universal and Sony had also licensed at least a portion of their catalog to other, more successful online music stores such as Streamwaves' Christian music service HigherWaves, FullAudio and Streamwaves' full product.[8]
Roxioacquired the service on May 19, 2003, and used it as a base to launch their paid music service under the brand nameNapster,and in 2004, Sony launched itsSony Connectservice.
The disastrous history of Pressplay was later detailed inHow Music Got Freeby Stephen Witt, from the viewpoint of Universal Music CEODoug Morris.[9]
References
[edit]- ^"Try pressplay digital music service's free trial and start to stream, download and burn today!".2002-09-05. Archived fromthe originalon 5 September 2002.
- ^abcHarris, Ron (5 December 2001)."Mobility fears over online music sales".The Age.Archived fromthe originalon 14 June 2002.
- ^abStrauss, Neil (18 February 2002)."Record Labels' Answer to Napster Still Has Artists Feeling Bypassed".New York Times.Retrieved18 September2016.
- ^Menta, Richard (17 September 2001)."PressPlay and MusicNet to Launch".MP3newswire.net.Retrieved2016-09-15.
- ^abMenta, Richard (17 May 2001)."MusicNet and Duet: downloads expire after 30 days".MP3newswire.net.Retrieved2016-09-15.
- ^abHarmon, Amy (2001-05-17)."Congress to Preview Digital Music Service".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2016-09-15.
- ^abcTynan, Dan (2006-03-26)."The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time - Numbers 6 to 10".PC WorldMagazine. Archived fromthe originalon 15 June 2006.Retrieved2015-08-25.
- ^Gwendolyn, Mariano (2003-06-05)."Universal offers songs to Streamwaves".ZDNetNews.Archivedfrom the original on 2012-10-09.
- ^Witt, Stephen (2015). "Chapter 13".How Music Got Free:The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy.Viking (published 16 June 2015).ISBN9780698152526.