MP3tunes Launches Without Label Support, Or Very Much Compelling At All

from the hello-publicity-stunt dept

As expected, Michael Robertson has launched his new music download store that doesn't use any copy protection at all, and offers straight MP3s at $0.88 a pop. Of course, also as expected, none of the major labels were willing to work with him, so it's all independent bands. That's cool in the sense of supporting indie acts, but might make it more difficult to attract actual users. In fact, it's really not that different from a few other sites, like eMusic. While, to some extent, he's simply trying to force the issue concerning copy protection with all the big name music download stores, it's unlikely they'll care very much here, because they won't see it as competition at all (unless they've been reading a lot of Chris Anderson's writings lately). Also, it's not clear how much indie bands really stand to benefit from this service either. The smaller independent bands are better off building up a big fan base, and many more bands are realizing you do that by getting more people to hear your music -- and that means sharing the music, not charging for every song. So, while it's a nice idea, it's unclear if it's actually going to matter much in the long run.