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[glynor]

There are too many examples of services that shut down and left users with purchased downloads that won't play.

And that is the problem with DRM.  My tracks that I've purchased need to be able to still play in 2025 (the CDs I bought in 1991 certainly still do, assuming I didn't leave them on my dashboard for 2 years).  Anything else is clearly not acceptable.

[CadErik]

It's a streaming service, with options for:

1.  "Download" of the subscription tracks (meaning that you then can play them from your local drive, but if you stop your subscription, they stop playing.
2.  Transfer to MTP/PlaysforSure portable device.  (works as long as your subscription works)
3.  "Purchase" of WM DRM track (works even after your subscription has ended).

So in which format and quality will the subscription "Downloads" be? That is the part where I'm quite happy with napster. The DRM protected WMA in 192 sound really good.

And will the subscription service work in Canada?
I'm very curious to know what selection you have available for Canada, this seems to vary quite a bit from Napster/Yahoo music and few others.

Erik.

[MrHaugen]

I'd never pay for any DRM infected media myself, unless I know it will play no matter what, and I can copy the media to any of my devices. But still, I would be very much in doubt.

I allways preffer lossless over lossy formats, but I believe the majority would be happy with high quality mp3.

A lossless format and automatic convertion after purchase would be the best option though. That way everyone can choose themself.

I hope you can make them see these things from the users' perspective.

Good luck!

[jack wallstreet]

I love MC and talk about it all the time, even to people who couldn't care. Along with 515 updates in a year and a half.  And the responsiveness of the developers.

I use Rhapsody all the time and I also use Amazon.  While I look forward to what MC can offer, I am very satisfied with the services from Rhapsody and Amazon.  It will be interesting to see if MC can get me interested in changing.  I do not find the separation of Rhapsody and Amazon a big deal. 

[rrt]

i like the idea of lossless because i'm trying jriver because of good decoding and being able to bypass windows mixing.  i also would like a service like yahoo with a library to stream selected tracks with the clean decoding etc.  on my system the differences in higher bandwidth streams are evident.  i do most listening at home outputing via usb to an empirical offramp via i2s into a northstar dac into good amplification and speakers.  i usually prefer the shoutcast 320 streams and would be interested in finding high bandwidth or lossless streaming sources.  i'd sign up for a service with reasonable lossless downloads.  sure miss the Russian sites ... not so much for the cost ... but because they offered many uncompressed lossless or higher bandwidth downloads.

i'd been running foobar 0.8.3 using SRC in 24 bit and outputting thru directsound2 or asio and i could run unmapped.  course im running jriver unmapped also thru asio.  certainly interested in a any services and info regarding them or further tweaks to improve input output quality.  Cheers, Rob

[duprejr]

Is there any chance that you can use 192 for the bitrate on the new service?  I have been using Napster but wanted to give Performer Digital a try.  I really like the speed of PD but I didn't realize the downloads were 128 instead of 192.   I didn't even realize anyone used 128 anymore.   If you can't use 192 can you explain why?  Also, you may have mentioned this already but will you be able to provide playlist support (predefined playlists).  A great thing about a subscription service is the discovery of new music.  Both Rhapsody and Napster do a pretty good job of this but PD seems lacking in this area.   

[mojave]

I just read today that Pandora is close to shutting down due to increases in licensing fees. This may open the door for more subscribers to Room With A View. Is this getting closer to being available?

[JimH]

I just read today that Pandora is close to shutting down due to increases in licensing fees. This may open the door for more subscribers to Room With A View. Is this getting closer to being available?

It's close now.  A month or less.

Here are some screenshots:
http://www.pix01.com/gallery/8D12431D-7EA0-495D-9EA2-775091458CB9/Performer_MC_12.0.35/

[JDizzy]

Is Music Giant (I think it was called), still happening.
I thought I read where a deal was struck with them and MC?
Forget 128 kbps they have 11,000 kbps stuff!
I love the hi resolution music they have.

[JimH]

Is Music Giant (I think it was called), still happening.
I thought I read where a deal was struck with them and MC?
Forget 128 kbps they have 11,000 kbps stuff!
I love the hi resolution music they have.

It's still moving forward.  No idea of release yet.

[glynor]

Hopefully the iTunes Unlimited rumors aren't true.  That could make competing in this space an exercise in futility.  The inability to support the vast majority of the handheld players on the market (iPod) vs the competition supporting them (Apple) would be pretty much game-set-match against you, I'm afraid.

[BullishDad]

Anything happening with the music service?  My Yahoo sub expired early this month and I didn't renew.

[JimH]

You can be our first customer.   

We expect it to be public in October.

Thanks for asking.

[BullishDad]

Thanks for the update, Jim.  I'll keep an eye out for an announcement.

[raldo]

Hopefully the iTunes Unlimited rumors aren't true.  That could make competing in this space an exercise in futility.  The inability to support the vast majority of the handheld players on the market (iPod) vs the competition supporting them (Apple) would be pretty much game-set-match against you, I'm afraid.

Why "an excersise in futility"? Are you saying that all mobile users will be assimilated by Apple after Apple introduces such a system?!

A quick google tells me that Apple has a 70% share of the player market. In the long run, that share is bound to shrink. Why? Because other phone manufacturers and OS manufacturers are quickly catching up. The excellent HTC phones, as an example, is just the beginning...

[ProblemChild]

Sorry guys, but this doesn't interest me either. Looks like a great opportunity for you and I wish you well - make a killing
off of it. But I resent the money I pay every month for the privilege of watching television and there's no way I can justify
this, regardless of the cost comparisons.
For me the point of MC and building my own library is to not have to pay to listen to the music I want. And frankly I don't
have the time to listen to enough new music to justify it. 300,000 albums is great, but maybe I'd listen to 2-3 each week.
I know it's probably a great deal and I'm in the minority but...
It also makes me wonder about the future of MC - just how tied into this service its partners will MC become?
In addition to the obvious reasons, I hate ITunes, for instance, at least in part because of its marriage to their online services.

When it comes out I'll definitely take a look, and keep listening here - maybe when I understand more I'll become more
curious. For now though it sounds more worrisome than anything.

[JimH]

Our subscription service began beta last night:

www.performermc.com

[MrHaugen]

I'll probably use this to find new music, but I'm probably not going to download anything as it's not flac.
Even though I could never hear the difference on my curernt HiFi equipment; I might some day....
It's great that the music you buy and own is not infected with DRM though! Good job.