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NEWS: Deezer launches premium desktop client

Duncan Geere — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:35:47 +0000

Two-tiered subscription provides options

Deezer, a French music startup that rivals Spotify and We7 in providing ad-supported music streaming, has announced a couple of premium subscription options and a desktop client, so you can listen to the service without having a browser window open.

The Deezer site itself will remain free, but ad-supported and low quality. Users that want better audio bitrate and the removal of ads can pay 5 euros per month for a service called Deezer HQ. Alternatively, paying 10 euros per month will give access to a desktop app (built in Adobe Air) and a set of mobile clients that work on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry platforms.

The company says that 80% of its users wanted mobile access, and 40% wanted better sound quality - those users will presumably be buoyed by this announcement, and the company should get a bit more revenue as a result. Interestingly, the top end package has a 7-day free trial - something not offered by its competitors, but which will likely increase conversion rates.

But what the platform's success will rest on is its catalogue and ease-of-use. It remains to be seen whether it can conquer Spotify's current dominance in the space, and stay afloat when several other big names are launching similar offerings.

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Tags: Audio Music Deezer Spotify We7

Deezer launches premium desktop client originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:35:47 +0000

NEWS: Which is the best online music service?

Dan Sung — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:50:20 +0100

Streaming and downloads, ad-funded or subscription based - which is yours?

With Sky's announcement of the company's upcoming service, Sky Songs, we finally have proof that every man and his dog is getting in on the music scene. As a consumer, though, the picture just gets that little bit more complicated.

If you want all the music in the world for free, then that's still possible - just not necessarily legal. So, if you've a conscience and you're looking to listen to whatever you want and even keep it, then here's a run down of a few of the options open to you.

Sky Songs

Year launched: 2009
Catalogue: 4 million
Streaming: ?6.49/month for ad-free, unlimited service
Downloads: Same ?6.49/?7.49 buys 10/15 tracks/month
DRM: No
Music Quality: Unknown
File available: MP3

Announced just today, the Sky service seems to have simplicity at its heart for a subscription model. There are just two options both of which provide an advert free unlimited stream of whatever music you choose plus the bonus of either 10 or 15 tracks to download and keep as MP3s each month. No mention of the level of quality but expect it to be around 256kbps with no choice on the matter.

Verdict - With all four majors on board and a low monthly payment, it's a very good option. If the catalogue can back it up, the "free" downloads act as a very nice bonus.

Spotify

Year launched: 2008
Catalogue: 8 million
Streaming: Free, ad-funded streaming or ?9.99/month for non-ad premium service
Downloads: courtesy of 7digital
DRM: n/a
Music Quality: 160kbps (free service) 320 kbps (premium)
File available: n/a

The current people's champion, Spotify is both social and free which massive pluses to the public. Yes, the ads can be annoying, yes the catalogue does have a few gaping holes and yes, the audio quality of the basic stream is relatively low, but then you can always sign up for the ?10 per month and get it on your smartphone too.

Verdict - Still the best offering for the majority of people. Perhaps not for those looking to build a library of tracks.

eMusic

Year launched: 1998
Catalogue: 6 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: 24/35/50 tracks for ?9.99/?13.99/?17.99 per month
DRM: No
Music Quality: 192kbps on average
File available: MP3

At the other end of the spectrum eMusic provides a series of subscription packages and no music for free whatsoever. The structure is fairly rigid and unlike all good mobile phone plans of days gone by, the unused credits do not roll over to the next month. That said, it's one of the oldest, most successful services out there, has built up an excellent catalogue of independent labels and more obscure, hard to find tracks.

Verdict - Great option for collectors but the audio quality can vary quite a lot.

We7

Year launched: 2007
Catalogue: 3.5 million
Streaming: free, ad-funded streaming
Downloads: pay-per-track & free ad funded versions
DRM: No
Music Quality: 256 & 320kbps paid; 192kbps free
File available: MP3

The most interesting thing about We7 as opposed to the others is that they do offer tracks to download and keep for free. The downside to this is that each contains a small piece of advertising, known as ablipvert, which plays every time with the track. You can pay to remove it and also for a higher bit-rate version too. A free streaming service is also available, so overall users get a lot of choice here.

Verdict - Good universal platform. Not such a large catalogue and slightly on the ad-heavy side.

7digital

Year launched: 2004
Catalogue: 8 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: pay-per-track
DRM: No
Music Quality: 192, 256, 320kbps
File available: MP3/AAC/WMA/FLAC

7digital is a simple one on the outside - no streaming, no subscriptions, all downloads and all paid for. However, there's an excellent degree of flexibility once you start shopping. As with all the pay-per-track services, the songs are reasonably priced but what you get with 7digital is the option of how you'd like them downloaded. It's the only service which allows users to select both the audio quality and the file-type they'd like as well with the lossless FLAC, a noticeable intrigue.

Verdict - Good flexibility, good choice but could do with a few more tracks and some kind of free option too.

Amazon MP3

Year launched: 2008
Catalogue: 9 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: pay-per-track from 29p
DRM: No
Music Quality: 256kbps
File available: MP3

With downloads starting at just 29p, a catalogue of over 9 million songs and each of them at an excellent level of audio quality, it's hard to ignore Amazon's recent step into the music world - especially as it's somewhere many of us do our online shopping in the first place.

Verdict - Very good value pick and chose option.

iTunes Store

Year launched: 2003
Catalogue: 10 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: pay-per-track: $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29
DRM: No
Music Quality: 256kbps
File available: AAC

If AAC files are your thing, then the iTunes Store is the place to be. Over the air access via iPhones and iPod touches play a large part in its success as well as iTunes being the default music player for anyone with any kind of Apple PMP. Certainly not the cheapest but it's a tidy piece of software with a great catalogue and so much more palatable ever since they ditched the DRM.

Verdict - Expensive but very convenient.

Napster

Year launched: 2003
Catalogue: 8 million
Streaming: Unlimited, ad-free for ?5/month to PC or ?14.95 to portables too
Downloads: pay-per-track
DRM: No
Music Quality: 128kbps streamed, 256kbps downloads
File available: MP3/WMA

So many years and so many changes, Napster will always be associated with the hay day of the Web and the way this place has changed over all these years. The new version of the service is slightly over-complicated compared to all the others, but once people get over the bitter taste that still surrounds the original site's shutdown, they might discover that the streaming service is wonderfully cheap - just not free.

Verdict - Great value streaming from a broad catalogue. Portable version much pricier.

NEWS: Unlimited music service Sky Songs hits beta

Amy-Mae Elliott — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:30:19 +0100

Streaming and downloads "coming soon"

It's been well over a year since UK broadcaster Sky officially announced plans to create an unlimited music service, and it's only now just about to go into a limited beta testing phase.

Called "Sky Songs", there's a website up and running now with a "coming soon" banner claiming it will offer "a new way to discover music" but provides no timescale as to when it will be publicly available.

Since Sky's plans were revealed in July 2008, the online music market has changed considerably with the UK launch of Spotify making streaming a more popular choice. In the same time period the similar service We7 has hit 2 million users.

Sky had previously said that for a monthly subscription fee, users would be able to download tracks to listen to later and "to own forever" with tracks said to work on any MP3-compatible device, including iPods, MP3 players and mobile phones, which suggested the songs would be DRM-free.

We do know Sky's offering will be made up of a catalogue of more than 4 million songs from all of the major labels as well as over 100 independents.

How much Sky plans to charge, how usable the site is, and just how unlimited those unlimited claims turn out to be will all be crucial to the success of Sky Songs, especially considering its delayed entry to the market. We will keep you posted.

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