Amazon's free service not music to record labels
By Phil Wahba and Paul Thomasch |
March 31, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A NEW Amazon.com Inc service that lets customers store songs and play them on a variety of phones and computers is facing a backlash from the music industry that could ignite a legal battle.
Amazon's Cloud Drive, announced on Tuesday, allows customers to store about 1,000 songs on the company's web servers for free instead of their own hard drives and play them over an Internet connection directly from web browsers and on phones running Google Inc's Android software.
Sony Music was upset by Amazon's decision to launch the service without new licenses for music streaming, said spokeswoman Liz Young.
"We hope that they'll reach a new license deal," Young said, "but we're keeping all of our legal options open."
Amazon beat rivals Google and Apple Inc into the market for such "music locker" services, which are meant to appeal to consumers frustrated by the complexities of storing their favorite songs at work, home and on their smartphones.
Music labels were informed of the plans last week. Only later did Amazon address the issue of negotiating licenses, one source close to the discussions said.
That executive called the move "somewhat stunning" and noted that some within the media industry said the service might be illegal.
"I've never seen a company of their size make an announcement, launch a service and simultaneously say they're trying to get licenses," said the executive, who requested anonymity because the discussions were not public.
In 2007, EMI sued MP3tunes, which offered a similar service. Consumers are allowed to store music files on their own computers, but it is unclear whether they have that right when they use remote storage services offered by cloud computing.
Amazon's service is part of its plan to become a bigger player in the digital content business and reduce its reliance on the sales of CDs and books.
Amazon's Cloud Drive, announced on Tuesday, allows customers to store about 1,000 songs on the company's web servers for free instead of their own hard drives and play them over an Internet connection directly from web browsers and on phones running Google Inc's Android software.
Sony Music was upset by Amazon's decision to launch the service without new licenses for music streaming, said spokeswoman Liz Young.
"We hope that they'll reach a new license deal," Young said, "but we're keeping all of our legal options open."
Amazon beat rivals Google and Apple Inc into the market for such "music locker" services, which are meant to appeal to consumers frustrated by the complexities of storing their favorite songs at work, home and on their smartphones.
Music labels were informed of the plans last week. Only later did Amazon address the issue of negotiating licenses, one source close to the discussions said.
That executive called the move "somewhat stunning" and noted that some within the media industry said the service might be illegal.
"I've never seen a company of their size make an announcement, launch a service and simultaneously say they're trying to get licenses," said the executive, who requested anonymity because the discussions were not public.
In 2007, EMI sued MP3tunes, which offered a similar service. Consumers are allowed to store music files on their own computers, but it is unclear whether they have that right when they use remote storage services offered by cloud computing.
Amazon's service is part of its plan to become a bigger player in the digital content business and reduce its reliance on the sales of CDs and books.
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