clash of the titans
reuters has a piece (via cnn) on microsoft’s plans to enter the online music fray in 2004 (yeah, that could be several weeks away).
this, of course, sets up the battle of microsoft vs. walmart vs. apple vs. all the other little upstarts and spinoffs and reinventions.
as usual, my concern is for the musicians. as the only group without power in this exchange (labels have their catalogs and copyrights, microsoft has money, walmart has money, apple has ipods), i have to assume that as these services rush to cut deals and squeeze pennies, the most likely squeeze will be the musicians.
a lot will depend on the particular terms of the contacts, of course, but since the “standard industry contract” is already a pretty major screw to the musician, i don’t expect many of them to get a decent shot at this generation and mode of music distribution.
just one more reason i haven’t paid much attention to the back catalog, despite the huge pile of dollars locked up in there.