“MTV will make the hookup with MusicNet (which is a joint venture composed of RealNetworks and a trio of music companies — Warner Music, BMG, and EMI) to create and brand a new online music-download operation. MusicNet already supplies its services to Time Warner’s America Online users and will be assisting the Virgin Group in its attempt to buy some real estate in this growing arena. No specific start date has been announced, and pricing tiers have yet to be determined,” Steven Mallas writes for The Motley Fool.
“MTV will have to compete with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and its army of iPod devices, [but…] even though MTV has its work cut out for itself, my instinct tells me it is going to do well and eventually grab a ton of the mindshare available for this sector. Why? I’ve got one word for you (and, no, it isn’t plastics): brand. The equity inherent in those three letters, coupled with the formidable relevance and resonance they hold with the technophile teens and collegiate dudes across this sphere of ours, makes me think that the cabler will be able to monetize the strong relationship with its hip viewers even further than it already does… This area is sure to grow, and my gut hunch is that either MTV or Wal-Mart will end up being the dominant players somewhere down the path,” Mallas writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The MTV service will not work directly with Apple’s iPod as we understand it – the same problem Wal-Mart, Napster, Sony, etc. face. There are over 3 million iPods in users’ hands already and the number is growing rapidly. Selling leaded gas (Real or WMA or ATRAC3) when most want unleaded (AAC) doesn’t seem like a winning proposition to us.
As we have all argued several times, the iTMS is popular even if you don’t have an iPod. Apple can’t rely simply on iPod sales to make the store remain on tops. I think they are doing a great job but the big boys are begining to line up for their share of the pie. Goodbye underfunded Napster 2.0.
Brand don’t mean crap if you don’t follow it up with a quality offering, which is what Apple did. So how is the other highly branded iTMS killer, Napster, doing these days?
Problem with MTV, Virgin, Wal-Mart, etc. is that they are all competing against each other but they don’t sell/market a player. So, if they don’t team up with someone in the player market, all they have is songs and it’s not that seamless.
Apple endorses/sells the iPod with their system. It’s the one everyone wants. Go to school with your Dell DJ and get laughed at, like wearing Toughskins jeans when everyone else has Levis (yeah, that dates me).
Yeah, right, all Rap all the time MTV is going to beat iTMS. Uh, huh. And Wal Mart? How, when Wal Mart keeps cutting prices all the time? The labels won’t like that.
What a joke.
Somebody educate me. Do “hip viewers” really flock to MTV like this guy thinks?
mtv? Wait… someone atually thing the M in Mtv stands for “music”?
hahahahahahahahahahahha. It is to laugh.
Perhaps MTV will have a lock on the download service for Osbournes or Newlyweds or Real World or ‘insert silly tv show here’ but not music. They gave up on music years ago.
Between MTV, MTV2, VH1 and VH1 Classic they do have lots of viewers (same ownership). I know I watch VH1/VH1 Classic all the time and check to see what songs are available on iTMS.
My mother, in her early 70s, has never seen MTV but she knows the brand name. But, people know the Napster brand name and that hasn’t helped Roxio much.
they don’t call him a fool for nuthin…
moo.
Emphasize the Fool in Motley Fool.
The reality is that nobody thinks of MTV or <strike>Wal</strike>Hell-Mart when they think about music. MTV is just a bullshit teenie-bopper reality show factory. Hey, iTMS has more videos on it than MTV!
I almost fell out of my chair when I heard that “hip teens” are going to flock to the “brand” of Walmart… That is funny.
:: wipes tear from eyes ::
Thanks for the good laugh of the day… oh really, you’re killing me..
For that matter, what *product* has MTV ever sucessfully launched?
I doubt Walmart sells unedited tracks, since all you can buy in their stores are “clean versions” of CDs (which I can never understand why they still sell R-rated movies and don’t demand “tv versions”) That’s not a good move for adults who wish to buy the real version of songs. I like that iTunes featured “Clean” and “Explicit” versions of many popular songs.
These days, I’ve not sure that the MTV brand really represents music. It doesn’t make up even a small part of their programming.
I just love all these pieces proclaiming this service and that service, none of which have even seen the light of day, and none that will come from technical sources of anything but dubious quality, as “iTunes killers.”
The comparison to selling “leaded” gas to a market demanding unleaded is fundamentally flawed. In this case, other companies have no choice but to sell music in competing formats incompatible with iPod. Apple refuses to licence AAC to anyone else.
i dont think “hip viewers” are buying music when its just as easy to “share” it
What is funny these company’s put together don’t add up to ITMS sells. Let’s face it Apple has the Microsoft advantage in this market total domination.
hahaha.. i can’t believe this guy thinks MTV is a stronger brand than apple…
i’m 22 and i KNOW mtv is a joke.. apple is adored by gen y
How old is this guy, he sounds like that cop/doctor in “Fear and Loathing in Las vegas”. Hip, College dudes? My campus is flooded with iTunes shared libraries, even when 4.5 came out nearly everyone has updated in this short time. College students hate to rent anything, its cash thats going towards nothing, and we like clever things, like iPod, MTV sucks and most people are realizing it and only watch a few programs at best. Everyone wants an iPod on campus’ I see more each week. I doubt that iTMS is going to lose any ground.
“Apple refuses to licence AAC to anyone else.” – billy_pilgrim
It’s not Apple’s to license.
And if they couldn’t use AAC, then how come Philips, Nokia, Panasonic, iRiver, HP (iPaq), and many others use AAC? And XM Radio broadcasts in AAC format.
And even the DRM isn’t Apple’s.
Look, RealPlayer 10 can play songs purchased from the iTunes music store. That’s a fact. Anyone can do it – if they choose to.
How ’bout a little research before you post, eh?
i thought no other stores can use ipod because even if they have aac they don’t have the code or whatever apple uses for protection.
I don’t understand why there can’t be more than one online music store. When I go to a mall, there are usually multiple stores where I can buy CDs, why not do a similar thing online. Competition only hurts if your not as good as the other guy, and supposedly Apple’s store is still the best.
And on a different note, why can’t everyone agree on a single music format. The great thing about compact discs is that you can go into the store, buy a CD, and it will work regardless of the brand of player. Can’t there be a secure form of mp3 (or something similar) that all sides can agree to use that will work regardless of your hardware?
Quote:
“The equity inherent in those three letters, coupled with the formidable relevance and resonance they hold with the technophile teens and collegiate dudes across this sphere of ours…”
Well, Motley, I hate to disabuse you of the notion the the world (sphere) == USA. MTV is an USA phenomenon, and therefore, whatever cachet it might have as a ‘brand’ is limited to those borders. Other nations have MTV-like services, but they are not MTV.
Everybody, everywhere, knows who “Apple” is (and it is no longer the Beatles company).
I’ll stake my brand (Apple) against your brand (MTV) anyday.
Mike
Jimbo: My mom made me wear bobo Toughskins jeans. My sense of self-worth was wrecked at an early age.
“Ha ha you got a bobo Dell MP3 player…”
MacPhee: MTV does have Asian and European services, that said, when was the last time any of you watched MTV?
I thought Apple was the number one brand associated with coolness among teenagers. Hmmm. Maybe the Motley Fool author is dating himself.
These guys aren’t too quick are they? Brand doesn’t mean jack if your product sucks. For instance, Sony is/was a high-profile brand in the music device sector. Unfortunately for them, their store and players suck. Horribly counter-intuitive interfaces, etc. Apple has brand recognition out the yin-yang (_everyone_ has heard of Apple). The key is this though: Apple specializes in hardware, sure. But hardware is only part of the puzzle. Apple also specializes in software design. They make insanely great applications that can’t be beat for ease-of-use, quality, and ingenuity. These other companies suck at making software (and hardware if you ask me). So, in summary, these other companies either do software, or they do hardware, but not both. Apple does both and they do both well. Extremely well. That’s why they’re succeeding even with all this “competition”.