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RealNet offers PC jukebox
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May 3, 1999: 2:15 p.m. ET
Platform to play, record music may raise eyebrows in recording industry
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - RealNetworks Inc. Monday unveiled software that turns a personal computer into a music jukebox, entering the rapidly growing market for digital-music distribution.
RealJukebox, which is available as a free download from RealNetworks' Web site, lets users record their CD collections onto their PC hard drives while simultaneously listening to the CD or other songs already downloaded on their computers.
Rob Glaser, RealNetworks chief executive officer, said users can record a 60-minute CD in about 12 minutes, provided a user has a "decent" CD-ROM drive.
Users can also download music from the Internet, as well as organize and personalize their music collections however they see fit.
RealJukebox represents RealNetworks' entry into the market for downloading digital music from the Internet, which market-research firm Forrester Research predicts will be a $1.1-billion market by 2003.
Despite the fact that the RealJukebox product is supported by a secure digital downloading technology developed by AT&T Corp. (T) and IBM Corp. (IBM) among others, RealNetworks ' (RNWK) initiative could raise the ire of the recording industry, which has already expressed concerns over piracy in digital-music distribution.
MP3 pressures
RealJukebox is RealNetworks' first product that supports the popular MP3 format, which produces near-CD-quality audio files that can be downloaded onto a PC or a portable MP3 player.
RealJukebox is the latest salvo in RealNetworks' battle with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). Microsoft's new Media Player product supports MP3, and the company is currently working on a proprietary digital music format that includes piracy protections.
MP3, however, has raised the eyebrows of the recording industry, which contends the format could lead to widespread copyright and intellectual-property violations.
RealJukebox supports AT&T's a2b music and IBM's Electronic Music Management System (EMMS) platforms, which are designed to secure files and help protect copyrights.
RealJukebox users, for example, will be able to make copies of a CD for use on their own computer, but a default setting prevents customers from passing MP3 files to other computers, Glaser said. Users can change that setting, but Glaser said the program warns consumers that they may be violating copyright laws.
Nonetheless, there are fears that RealJukebox could undermine the recording industry's initiatives to develop a standard security system for digital-music downloading.
In December, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced the formation of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), a consortium of record company and technology executives that is looking to develop specifications protecting the copyrights of downloaded music.
SDMI is supported by such music industry heavyweights as Bertelsmann AG's BMG Entertainment, Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment and Time Warner Inc. 's (TWX) Warner Music Group. (Time Warner is the parent company of CNN and CNNfn.)
Glaser said the firm is "actively working with the major record labels and the RIAA" in making SDMI the standard security platform for digital music distribution.
RIAA officials were not available for immediate comment on RealNetworks' announcement. A BMG spokesman said the company had no comment until it had a chance to review the announcement.
RealNetworks shares fell 14-1/2 to 207 in afternoon trading.
-- by staff writer John Frederick Moore
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