Pressplay
Encyclopedia
Pressplay was the name of an online music store
from 2002 - 2003 created as a joint venture
between Universal Music Group
and Sony Music Entertainment
. The two record labels provided music via subscription for pressplay along with BMG
, EMI
, Warner Music Group
and various independent labels
. It was branded for multiple services, most notably Yahoo.com. Roxio
acquired the service on May 19, 2003 and used it as a base to relaunch the Napster
music service.
The Pressplay music service initially received a lot of criticism for its complicated licensing model, and for offering a selection of artists and titles that was not large enough to lure consumers away from piracy options. This earned Pressplay and rival MusicNet the 9th place in PC World's
list of the "25 Worst Tech Products of All Time", stating that "the services' stunningly brain-dead features showed that the record companies still didn't get it".
Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment had licensed at least a portion of their catalog to other, more successful online music stores such as
Streamwaves
' Christian music service HigherWaves, FullAudio and Streamwaves' full product.
Online music store
An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...
from 2002 - 2003 created as a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
and Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
. The two record labels provided music via subscription for pressplay along with BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
and various independent labels
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
. It was branded for multiple services, most notably Yahoo.com. Roxio
Roxio
Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions . Roxio branded products are sold online, through over 15,000 retail outlets, to organizations through volume license agreements and pre-loaded onto OEM PC's and devices...
acquired the service on May 19, 2003 and used it as a base to relaunch the Napster
Napster (pay service)
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a file sharing service. For more information about its founding mission as a free file sharing service, see Napster.-History:...
music service.
The Pressplay music service initially received a lot of criticism for its complicated licensing model, and for offering a selection of artists and titles that was not large enough to lure consumers away from piracy options. This earned Pressplay and rival MusicNet the 9th place in PC World's
PC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
list of the "25 Worst Tech Products of All Time", stating that "the services' stunningly brain-dead features showed that the record companies still didn't get it".
Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment had licensed at least a portion of their catalog to other, more successful online music stores such as
Streamwaves
Streamwaves
Streamwaves is an online music service launched in 1999. Founded during file sharing service Napster's legal troubles, Streamwaves was the first company to license major label masters for a subscription service, and the first company to launch a subscription service with major label...
' Christian music service HigherWaves, FullAudio and Streamwaves' full product.
External links
- pressplay.de
- Roxio.com - Roxio
- Napster.com
- Streamwaves