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Pluses and minuses

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Well as a user of electronic media and music I have been more than a little frustrated that Apple have taken so long to open the iTunes Music Store in the UK. Today I thought my luck had changed to hear that Napster have beaten Apple to the UK market.

I downloaded the software (how many media players does one pc need?) and got myself an account. The service is much the same as browsing through iTunes and looks similar to the myCokeMusic service I have previously browsed.

I found a track I have been after for ages (David Bowies "Jump... they say!") and made my purchase. At £0.99 it's comparable to iTunes and others so I wasn't worried. The track downloaded quickly and played brilliantly.

It was only when I tried to use it on my iPod I hit a snag. The latest version of iTunes does convert WMA files to AAC or MP3 (contrary to popular belief) but unfortunately it cannot convert protected files. Yes you guessed it the file from Napster is protected and not possible to transfer to iTunes or my iPod.

Now I am annoyed that the music business has taken so long to wake up to the fact that consumers want to purchase music online and they have just got around to embracing media players such as the iPod. Why oh why do they not agree on a standard format?

I have a brilliant digital music device and am not prepared to change it. I made my choice and stand by it. As far as I can tell all MP3 players are comparable they just include different bells and whistles. What I hate is that fact that these bells and whistles can only be heard on certain players!

Come on you guys - sort it out!


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