Sony has a solution for iPod users who’ve cashed in their Sony Rewards points for DRMed WMA-format music: Just circumvent their DRM.

And they even tell you how. Of course it’s the old ‘burn it to a CD, then rip CD’ trick, but still, helpful!

Sony is, of course, the last major music publisher to still insist on DRM, but at least they understand that it’s useless, easily circumvented, and annoying.

“Attention iPod users:

Our download service provides files in the WMA music format or the WMV video format, which is not supported by Apple Macintosh computers. To use your music with an iPod, simply follow the steps below:

1. Save each downloaded song to your PC
2. Burn a music CD (in CDA file format)
3. Import the music from the CD into iTunes
4. Update your iPod”

Ars Technica story.

via Michael Geist

The following is a review for Matthew Ebel’s album, Goodbye Planet Earth. I wrote it for iTunes and then decided “You know what? I want more people to hear how much I love this album. I’ll post it on YouMakeMedia too!” It’s also related to what we talk about here because almost all the promotion and execution of the album was done via new media marketing techniques - Second Life, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. It’s a very new twist on music marketing; very dynamic and exciting. Oh by the way, I exaggerate nothing here. Honestly - I love this album. It may be one of the best I’ve heard this year (and I just got a stack of fifteen CDs for Christmas so I have heard quite a bit this year). It is really a great album. You should buy it! (and no, I wasn’t paid to say this!)

In his newest album, “Goodbye Planet Earth”, singer/instrumentalist/songwriter Matthew Ebel has crafted what may be his magnum opus - his greatest work. The album is varied in its musical exploration, incorporating dynamic dance styles (A Cautionary Tail), modernist instrumental tunes (Gray Planet), a capella (Lost My Way), and classic Ebel piano-rock (Goodbye Planet Earth, Every Color). With all the available listening options, “Goodbye Planet Earth” will never bore you, and as you jump around the album you will quickly find your favorite track.

At the same time though, Ebel accomplishes something far more impressive: the songs, though catchy and great in isolation, are even more strong when listened to as a cohesive album. Transitions are smooth and logical, and where they might not make sense, Ebel has carefully inserted instrumental tracks. There are reprises, melody replications (where they makes sense), and the layout of the tracks was undoubtedly intentional. This album is no musical pastiche, it is a well-defined, expertly conducted overture with Ebel as maestro.

Matthew Ebel proved he could write catchy tunes with his previous album, “Beer and Coffee”, but “Goodbye Planet Earth” proves his ability to assemble an album - a skill reminiscent of the rock greats who preceded him; Brian Wilson, The Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd. It is not hard to imagine this album crossing into the mainstream and one can only hope that Mr. Ebel is rewarded thus. He certainly deserves it - “Goodbye Planet Earth” presents a listening experience unlike any album released in 2007; it is equal parts emotional, exotic, ephemeral, and engaging. Matthew Ebel has set the bar high for podsafe and independent music.

Reading through the release notes of Soundtrack Pro 2.0.2, this little bugger caught my eye (it was actually listed in the release notes for 2.0.1, but I never saw it before):

iTunes Store Media Files
Soundtrack Pro does not support opening or importing any iTunes Store media files

Ok, that makes sense — if it stopped there. But it doesn’t. It continues…

iTunes Store Media Files
Soundtrack Pro does not support opening or importing any iTunes Store media files, including iTunes Plus files.

Wait. What?

including iTunes Plus files.

including iTunes Plus files.

including iTunes Plus files.

Says here:

“Consumers are going to love listening to higher quality iTunes Plus tracks from their favorite EMI artists with no usage restrictions.”

I think Apple has a few questions to answer…

1. Are iTunes Plus files really “DRM-free”?
2. How can they block Soundtrack Pro from opening iTunes Plus files?

I’m a bit confused right now, and I think with good reason. If anyone can shed light on the subject that would rock. Mmk?

Embedding YouTube just doesn’t cut it.

Of the tips I’ve given thus far, this is probably the most difficult to accomplish. Bandwidth and time work against you when you try to provide more than one or two options for your viewers. But it makes the experience much better, and far more accessible.

Attention spans don’t allow people to only focus on one thing at a time. You’re listening to music right now, aren’t you? The TV might even be on in the background.

We feel weird if we’re not listening to music while we’re online. We feel weird when there’s not something on the TV in the background. I’ve been trying to cut down on my TV watching (down to only about 1.5 hours a day), so having the TV screen black beside me makes me really uncomfortable. I don’t want to watch anything, but I want there to be something to watch.

When you only provide a YouTube embed for your video podcast, you’re forcing people to focus solely on it. It becomes difficult to have it running in the background while you’re trying to do other things. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that if you have a video podcast, most of the your audience is using Firefox. Or, at the very least, they’re probably not running IE6. They’re used to having tabs. They don’t like having multiple browser windows open. Which means they can’t comfortably be reading websites while they’re watching your video podcast.

They need to be able to download it and watch it in their own media player.

As I said before, this causes problems for you, the producer, because you’ll have to spend time transcoding and you’ll have to spend money on bandwidth.

Providing an iTunes feed is a great start, but not everybody has iTunes and not everybody runs Windows or owns a Mac. But, at the very, very least, you should be publishing it to iTunes.

To see a great example of providing multiple formats, check out Rocketboom’s list of options for the viewer.

Revision3 offers, along with their embedded Flash player, multiple Quicktime, WMV, and Xvid encodes.

Part 2 will have helpful tips about how to provide options like these for your viewers.

In a move that sent waves through the tech and music industries, EMI announced today that they will be releasing millions of tracks digitally, without Digital Rights Management. “April 2, 2007: The day DRM died.”

DRM, the stuff that prevents you from copying music you own (strange, huh?) is the scourge of many listeners worldwide. EMI recognized this early - they were one of the few major labels who demoed DRM free tracks. The success, combined with pressure from Apple made this the perfect opportunity to jump the DRM ship.

The DRM free tracks, which will be available in May, will be sold at a higher quality (existing tracks are 128kbps, they will be upgraded to 256kbps) for an additional $0.30 ($1.29). Music retailers will have a choice between WMA, MP3, and AAC. Apple, who played a heavy role in today’s announcement, will be choosing AAC (their proprietary format). DRM-locked tracks will still be available for $0.99, and will be at the current 128kbps quality.

Another issue addressed is The Beatles’ move to digital distribution via iTunes. It appears that this will be happening in the future (in fact, Steve Jobs teased the keynote audience at the announcement of the iPhone, using the famous “Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” cover in a slide). EMI head Eric Nicoli told reporters that they were still “working on it.”

DRM will still be used for subscription services, sharing services, and time-limited downloads, unsurprisingly. These services rely on DRM for their basic foundation. As much as I hate DRM, with this type of service it is fairly clear with services such as these why DRM is needed (for the most part, I have some arguments, but… let’s not get into that).

Find more information in the press release. Gizbuzz also has more details and a link to the audio from the conference.

Apple’s new wireless video device, aptly named the AppleTV, is now shipping. Already the hackers are having fun with the device, adding XviD support via Perian and upgrading the device’s internal hard drive.

All this excitement over the AppleTV is great for new media videographers, who have yet another platform to distribute on. Just the same though, this blessing is a curse - one more platform means one more render pass. One more platform to optimize your video for.

Fortunately, Zadi Diaz and the fine folks over at the JetSet Show (a Rocketboom enterprise) have already encountered this problem, and have provided their rendering settings for public consumption. I haven’t tested them out (I don’t own an AppleTV) however they seem fairly concrete from a quick inspection. Any AppleTV owning-videographer types want to verify?

On a slightly related note, if you have any render settings, filters, plugins, or anything else that you want shared with the world, feel free to jot off a quick email to YouMakeMedia - our email address is editor (at( youmakemedia )dot) com. You can also direct message me at Twitter for a speedy response.

Via Twitter / Zadi

This year’s MacWorld keynote has brought several interesting product releases, including the long rumoured iPhone and the rebranding of the iTV as the Apple TV. My colleague Peter at GizBuzz has posted a more in depth roundup of Steve Jobs’ speech.

For YouMakeMedia readers, this isn’t terribly relevant news (though it is certainly exciting). DV Guru has promised to post a bit about how this all is relevant and I’m sure we’ll all be nodding in agreement when they do. For now though, I’m taking the opinion that sure, it’s all cool, but the major impact is on the consumer end. It won’t change how we deliver our media - except perhaps to encourage further delivery in HD thanks to the Apple TV. The iPhone has no greatly enhanced media features, in essence we still will treat it like an iPod.

I’m very excited about the new products, but from a media creator aspect, there isn’t a lot of excitement. I’m expecting more toward NAB (Final Cut Pro 6 with Silicon Color’s FinalTouch enhancements!).

I’d argue that the biggest impact is what wasn’t announced. Apple made the change from Apple Computers, inc. to Apple, inc. (they announced that, but really, who called them Apple Computers?) - this implies to me that they certainly aren’t done. The iPhone could have easily been branded as a pocket computer and they would have been able to maintain an Apple Computers name. What other consumer products should we expect? They haven’t crossed into games yet…

They also had a huge stock boost. Stockholders are obviously content with Apple’s decision to expand outside their original area of expertise and are willing to put forth what they can to help the business expand. This will be an interesting year.

A few months back, Apple got into a bit of a hissy-fit and began to throw cease and desist orders at folks who used the term “podcast”. Apparently, they felt that it was their term (that they didn’t invent) so they had the right to defend it.

Fast forward to now, and Apple has done a 180′. Evidently, the bad publicity made them change their view, and they no longer will complain if people use the term to legitimately describe podcasting services.

Unfortunately, the letter that revealed this, written to podcaster Dave Gray at The Global Geek Podcast website, is very vague as to whether Apple will seek further litigation. Apple notes that they don’t license the term, and I’ve taken this to mean that they don’t license the term as in licensing of a song to a filmmaker - they do not charge people for use of it, however its vague as to whether this is only for uses that they consider proper (”accurately refer to podcasting services”).

Regardless of the details, the news is fantastic for podcasters. You can now describe your product correctly without fear of a shut-down order from Apple. As to others… well, why would you use the term in the first place?

Disney has sold over a half-million motion pictures (television and feature-length) on iTunes.

The company and its subsidiaries, ABC and Pixar, all sell content on iTunes. No surprise, as Steve Jobs is a crucial part of both corporations.

Not surprisingly the largest selling content is the oldest content. High School Musical, the Disney Channel’s breakthrough made-for-TV movie, is one of the biggest selling Disney items. It has an advantage though - it’s been selling longer than iTunes has been selling traditional movies. In fact, the sale of High School Musical brought substantial rumour-mongering geared at the launch of the iTunes Movie Store.

Another notable point worth mentioning is that Disney plans on sharing the wealth. Not surprisingly, television channels are feeling a bit left out in this rush to the net, and want their share. Disney is nearing a licensing deal (within the next few deals) that will share this new stream of revenue with the (decidedly few) cable operators who show Disney films.

Via AOL Money