LAS VEGAS, NV; Jan. 4, 2006 - MusicGiants, the leader in high-fidelity music downloads, today announced that the company plans to offer 5.1 channel high-definition audio files as part of its MusicGiants Network premium music download service in 2006.
Continue reading "MusicGiants To Offer High-Definition, 5.1 Digital Music Downloads This Year" »
Apple has already sold one million videos on the iTunes Music Store in the 20 days since the October 12 debut, suggesting a strong market for legal video downloads. Videos cost US$1.99 each, and currently there are over 2,000 music videos, along with short films from Pixar, and television shows from ABC and Disney.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement, "Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings, so that customers can enjoy watching more videos on their computers and new iPods."
Currently, the selection of television shows is limited, but that's likely to change soon. ABC is negotiating to expand its offerings beyond Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Night Stalker. Other networks may show interest, too, now that Apple can show viewers are willing to pay for downloadable programming.
The iTMS is available for Mac and Windows personal computers and works exclusively with Apple's line of iPod digital media devices. iTMS now operates in 21 countries. In the U.S., the service features more than two million songs, and more than 11,000 audiobooks.
Digital hi-fi music has been the buzz lately. The New York Times ran an article that explains digital audio compression. The Times specifically discussed the deference between AAC, WMA, MP3 and more. The Washington Post ran an article that discussed MusicGiants and lossless compression. It seems that hi-fi and music downloads from the internet are beginning to reach the minds of music lovers.
From HomeToys
Back in the 60’s, our toys were Tonka trucks, lunchbox-sized record players and Barbie. Our parents had large pieces of furniture called HiFi’s and collections of vinyl records. Album play is limited, though and CD technology has improved music production for continual play. Even so, we did learn from these what real music sounded like. Finally there is an opportunity from which we will, just as our parents did, educate our children about real music and true sound.
Continue reading "High Definition Music Downloads In Your Home" »
Booming demand for music on the internet and mobile phones nearly offset the decline in physical formats as recorded music sales fell 1.9% to a retail value of $US 13.2 billion in the first half of 2005, compared to $US 13.4 billion in the same period of 2004.
IFPI has estimated the retail value of the digital music market in order to be consistent with its reporting of physical sales, and to allow year-on-year comparisons. On that basis, digital music sales in the period amounted to approximately $US 790 million, up from $US 220 million in the first half of 20041. This is the equivalent of 6% of total record industry sales.
Major Music Libraries Offered in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio Lossless Format Ensuring Highest Fidelity Available in the Market Today
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 2005-- In a major development for consumers, the recording industry, musicians, and the music download business, MusicGiants today announced the launch of the MusicGiants Network, the first music download service to offer high-definition, digital recordings from top music labels EMI Music, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - MusicGiants Inc. will launch a new music download service on Wednesday hoping to stand out from the crowded digital audio market by appealing to high-end at-home listeners, the company said.
"We're highly focused on home audio. There's a number of ways to get portable music and that market's pretty full right now. We're just going down a whole different road," Scott Bahneman, CEO of closely held MusicGiants, told Reuters.
Continue reading "Music service to target at-home high-end listeners" »
Major Music Libraries Offered in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio Lossless Format Ensuring Highest Fidelity Available in the Market Today
NEW YORK, N.Y.; Sept. 28, 2005 -- In a major development for consumers, the recording industry, musicians, and the music download business, MusicGiants today announced the launch of the MusicGiants Network, the first music download service to offer high-definition, digital recordings from top music labels EMI Music, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
Illegal file-sharing of music is being kept in check while the number of legal tracks downloaded internationally tripled to 180 million in the first half of 2005, new figures released by the international recording industry show today.
The IFPI figures indicate that the surge in broadband use globally is benefiting the legal music business while illegal file-sharing remains virtually flat. Infringing music files available on file-sharing networks and websites rose slightly (3%) from 870 million in January to 900 million, while broadband lines installed grew four times faster at 13%.
Continue reading "Legal music downloads triple in 2005; file-sharers take heed" »
by Charles Jade
Orignially posted at ars technica
While the iTMS dominates the (legal) music downloading business, it does so at a price, and it's not US$0.99, but rather 128kbps. Enter MusicGiants.
"If you're listening to compressed music using your iPod earbuds, you won't notice much difference [from a CD]," says Scott Bahneman, founder and chief executive of tiny startup MusicGiants. "But once you play it on a good home stereo, the difference is huge."
By Peter Burrows
Originally appeared at BusinessWeek Online
Startup MusicGiants is offering downloads of CD quality. Industry watchers agree there's a market -- but just how big is another question
When it comes to the red-hot online music business, a lot of the focus has been on how we'll get our music: whether we'll buy songs from a download site such as Apple's (APPL ) iTunes music store or rent it from subscription services that let you listen to almost anything so long as you keep paying the bill, a la Napster (NAPS ) or RealNetwork's (RNWK ) Rhapsody service.
Music on the internet and mobile phones is moving into the mainstream of consumer life, with legal download sites spreading internationally, more users buying songs in digital format and record companies achieving their first significant revenues from online sales.