RealNetworks Plays Universal; Links More Devices
A flurry of announcements from digital media company RealNetworks Inc. suggest that the Seattle, Wash. based company's audio and video technology may end up playing even
more tunes and powering more entertainment devices in a frantic
race to dominate the Internet's multimedia file formats.
The company's announcements, at the Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) 2000 in Las Vegas today, included news of an alliance with
the world's largest music company, Universal Music Group (UMG),
the subsidiary of Canada's Seagram Company Ltd. [NYSE:VO] and the
stable for well-known record labels such as A&M, Geffen, MCA,
Mercury and Polydor. The deal will see the two company's market
some of UMG's hefty catalog of music titles in formats compatible
with the RealNetworks RealJukebox music-playing software.
RealNetworks also announced today that its RealJukebox software
will begin packing some technology from Sony Corp. [NYSE:SNE],
including its ATRAC3 audio compression format and its OpenMG
copyright protection approach. When complete, owners of such Sony
portable-music devices as the Memory Stick Walkman and the VAIO
Music Clip will be able to use RealJukebox to manage the content on their players.
RealJukebox enhancements will also allow owners to use the
software to record their own music CDs using Adaptec Inc.'s
[NASDAQ:ADPT] Easy CD Creator technology and recordable CD drives,
and to organize audio files on storage devices from Iomega Corp.
[NYSE:IOM], including Iomega's Zip, Jaz and Clik drives.
For its deal with Universal, RealNetworks said it would be
supporting digital-rights management technology from InterTrust
Technologies Corp. [NASDAQ:IRTU], a system music vendors such as
UMG hope will reduce unauthorized copying of their products.
The companies said the integrated system will make it easier for a
user to buy a range of songs, albums or self-created music collections over the Internet, as well as receive detailed
information about the music.
"This alliance augments our ability to reach music consumers and,
in essence, it allows us to provide more music to more people,"
said Edgar Bronfman Jr., president and chief executive officer of
the Seagram Company. "Additionally, the alliance underscores our
commitment to provide the most compelling consumer music
experiences and to protect our artists' vision in the digital
age."
In November, UMG announced that it would launch its own Web-based
record label, Jimmy and Doug's FarmClub.com, in February of this
year. Named after UMG Chairman and CEO Doug Morris and Jimmy
Iovine, co-chairman of UMG's Interscope Geffen A&M business, the
Internet record company will include America Online Inc.
[NYSE:AOL] as a minority stakeholder.
Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.