they think we’re idiots part 137
Posted by SpikeMar 20
You may have seen ads for a new HK music service that offers unlimited downloads from a library of 600,000 songs for a flat fee per month. I took a look at the web site.
The service is through SmarTone Vodafone. Download to your PC for HK$56 per month or to your mobile phone (if you’re a SmarTone subscriber) for HK$96 per month.
The FAQ makes no mention of file formats or bit rates. But since they say that the files can’t be played on an iPod, you can bet they’re not MP3. And since it says that a 256 meg memory card can hold up to 125 songs, at 2 meg per song you’re getting bullshit audio quality.
And you’ll also be getting a healthy dosage of DRM. Yep. You can only play the tracks you’ve downloaded for as long as your subscription remains active. If you stop paying, you can’t keep playing. If you change your computer or mobile phone, you have to call them to enable your music to play on the new device.
This business model already failed in other countries. And when one of those online shops went bust (was it Sony or Nokia? I forget but it was within the past 3 months), you also lost the ability to play the songs you downloaded and PAID FOR.
So is anyone really going to pay for this? Why?
While it’s nice to have a music portal with an English interface in Hong Kong for legal downloads of music, this low bit rate high DRM crap is bound for failure.
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