A new 'virtual jukebox' lets you play your own songs wherever youare. Jerome Taylor on why it makes iPods look so last century
Ever since the dawn of the internet, music fans have dreamt of amythical celestial jukebox where every song ever produced would beavailable at the click of a button.
Now Amazon has sneaked ahead of arch rivals Apple and Google bybecoming the first major internet company to unveil a music-streaming service - allowing people to store their music online andlisten to the tracks on any computer or smartphone.
So-called "cloud music", where music libraries are stored incyberspace rather than on computer hard drives, is the new HolyGrail of the digital music industry, as technology companies race toentice consumers in a world where the CD has been all but abandoned.
Yesterday, Amazon quietly released Cloud Player to its Americancustomers in a move that has taken much of the music blogosphere bysurprise. Numerous smaller companies have already released their ownstart-up cloud players in what is still a niche, yet rapidlygrowing, market. But Amazon's offering is the first time that one ofthe major tech goliaths has jumped into the business. Google andApple are thought to be developing their own cloud players.
Cloud music players are often described as "digital lockers"where music listeners can place the music they own on a remoteserver. Users can then access their music library anywhere in theworld as long as they have a fast internet connection.
It means that gap-year students travelling abroad or employees inoffices can listen over the internet to the same CDs that aresitting on their bedroom shelves at home. Amazon's service, which isnot yet available to British customers, starts by giving subscribers5GB of free storage space, enough to hold 1,000 songs. Those whopurchase an album through the company's digital music store will begiven a further 20GB free for the first year and will then beexpected to pay $20 (12.50) a year to continue using the service.
You can then access your music on any computer or Android mobilephone. Given the ongoing hostility between Amazon and Apple - thetwo companies are currently engaged in a legal spat over who ownsthe phrase "App Store" - iPhones will not be able to sign up to theAmazon cloud player.
Music fans might find it somewhat galling to pay a company tostore their music for them, but according to Mike Butcher, Europeaneditor of the TechCrunch technology blog, it won't be long beforeeveryone is listening to music this way. He said: "Most of us havegrowing libraries of digital music.
"But if our hard drives crash or our computers are stolen we risklosing everything. Storing your music on a cloud means you'll alwaysbe able to access it." As internet speeds continue to get faster,many companies are trying to persuade people to store their datawith them to free up space on their hard drives. The practice alsogives the companies a lucrative insight into their customers'spending habits.
But the emergence of cloud players is very likely to lead to yetanother clash between software companies and record labels overroyalties and the thorny question of who owns the rights to digitalmusic files. Figures released this week show that global recordedmusic sales fell by $1.3bn last year as digital piracy continues totake its toll on the music industry. Record label executives aredetermined to rake back profits through music providers like Apple,Amazon and Google. But cloud players could soon become a newsticking point.
"There is going to be a monumental ding-dong over all this in thecoming years," Steve Mayall, editor of the consultancy Music Ally,said. "Amazon can probably see which way the wind is blowing andhave decided to roll out their service, but I'm sure there will besome legal battles on the horizon."
Uploading music files to a digital locker is still viewed aslegally ambiguous. Although someone who has bought a track has theright to listen to it, do they then have the right to share it onanother server? And would a cloud provider like Amazon be liable forpirated music that is played through its servers? Although manyrecord labels have turned a blind eye to these ambiguities, ahandful of companies are being sued over such issues.
Amazon has defended its cloud system as being no different tousing a web-based service to back up files. "We don't need a licenceto store music," Craig Pape, the company's director of music, said."The functionality is the same as an external hard drive."
Big on Amazon
Bestselling acts on the US site, which yesterday launched arevolutionary streaming service
1 KATY PERRY
2 LADY GAGA
3 RIHANNA
4 JENNIFER LOPEZ
5 CHRISTINA PERRI
6 DR DRE
7 CEE LO GREEN
8 BLACK EYED PEAS
9 BRUNO MARS
10 KE$HA
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