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THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
M E D I A G R O K
A Review of Press Coverage of the Internet Economy
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Media Find 50 Ways to Dis Napster
The Napster copyright-infringement hearing starts today in San
Francisco, so expect an avalanche of coverage tomorrow. In the
absence of trial news, most outlets offered sundry opinion pieces
that emphasized how much the company is despised; a handful iden-
tified a second news story but didn't connect the dots.
In a page-one feature, the Wall Street Journal hyped the hypocrisy
angle: Napster is built on others' intellectual property but hoards
its own. It's a reasonable enough point, though the most important
issue regarding Napster isn't addressed until the 21st parargaph,
and then, only between parentheses: "(Napster-style threats to the
music industry will continue even if Napster Inc. is shut down.)"
Inside led with anti-Napster quotes from Jupiter's Plug.In confer-
ence; the Washington Post piece (page one of its business section)
pushed the now-tired Napster-has-no-business-model line.
Those in search of real news found Napster's deal with Liquid Audio,
under which, Reuters revealed, "Napster has licensed Liquid's 'Genuine
Music' technology, which can embed ownership information into MP3
files and facilitate royalty payment to rights holders." We're sure
it's a coincidence that Napster is making this anti-infrigement move
the day before the hearing. But no one we surveyed noted that both
Napster and Liquid Audio are funded by Hummer Winblad, which also
supplied Napster with its CEO, missing out on a chance to identify
a new trend: copyright-infringement keiretsu.
MP3.com may feel left out (whatever happened to its supposed imminent
deals with the other major labels?). But the former most-hated-by-the-
major-labels Internet music company emerged from comparative obscurity
yesterday to announce a massive $177 million quarterly loss (which is
$60 million more than Bertlesmann paid for all of CDnow only a couple
of days ago). MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson had this stirring quote:
"Yes, it's a lot of money, but it's the cost of doing business in the
music industry today."
Finally, remember yesterday's news about Napster cutting a deal with
Palm Pictures' record label to promote one Elwood? There was all that
talk about viral marketing? As of 9.30 a.m. EDT, only 37 downloads
showed up in Napster. Next! - Jimmy Guterman
Napster Lays Claim to New Frontier, But It Doesn't Want Any Company
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB964562968421509497.htm
(Paid subscription required.)
Claws Out, Digital Music Elite Forecast Doom for Napster
http://www.inside.com/story/Story_Cached/0,2770,7238_9,00.html
Napster Looking for a Groove
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42531-2000Jul25.html
Napster Seeks Secure File Tracking Help from Liquid Audio
http://news.webnoize.com/item.rs?ID=9879
Napster Enlists Liquid Audio
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/napstr072500.htm
Napster Trial Won't End Music Industry Headaches
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2345237.html
Napster Is Ready for Anything (Reuters)
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2607420,00.html
Court Showdown in Suit Against Internet Music-Swapping
Company (Reuters)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/07/25/national1735EDT0716.DTL&type=business
Napster Shivers in the Shadow of the Gavel
http://www.redherring.com/industries/2000/0726/ind-napster072600.html
Glaser: Let's Make Music Napster-Easy
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2607181,00.html
MP3.com Hit With Huge Loss
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/07/25/BU15200.DTL&type=business
