2006: YouSendIt Won't Save You

Dec 27, 2005 · 1 minute read

You may have missed MTV and Microsoft’s announcement of the URGE project, a new service which will be launched next year. From the news reporting, it seems that they’ve decided to try and make money from the MP3blog format, recruiting some of the highest profile bloggers (Fluxblog’s Matthew Perpetua and Tiny Little Genius’s Jessica Hopper for starters), and, as a bonus, offering the songs in the iPod-unfriendly WMA format. Which seems fine enough, if a little pointless.

But, in a probably-unrelated, but-worth-thinking-about-manner, Poptext recently received a nastygram from the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society and the Performing Rights Society, essentially telling Abby that she needs a blanket licence to run her MP3blog (which, incidentally, still wouldn't put her in the clear for posting MP3s, but then music copyright clearance is rather dumb). This is a much bigger step than what happened to me a couple of years ago; it seems that the industry is going to put their foot down hard on the entire scene just as soon as they can claim that there's a legal alternative (and if the WMA files are set to self-destruct after seven days, then that's even better, isn't it?).

I guess it was fun while it lasted.