Portable player maker SanDisk has teamed up with RealNetworks to create a new player designed to work in tandem with Real's Rhapsody subscription and download service. Ease of use is always an issue with consumer adoption and this is an attempt to compete with the hugely successful Apple iPod/iTunes combo. Microsoft is taking much the same approach with its new Zune combo.
But hidden inside these announcements is a dirty secret that may further alienate music consumers and encourage more free file sharing. Just like IPod/iTunes, Zune is designed to be a closed loop. Songs rented or purchased from Microsoft may only be playable on it's player. And hidden inside the Rhapsody announcement is that while initially SanDisk players will use the widely used PlayForSure technology, Real will be migrating to it's own closed software approach as well.
The stated goal of all of this may be ease of use, but the hidden demon is that purchased and rented music could be stuck within a single company's system and consumer choice limited to those offered by that provider.
In an age when new technologies have caused consumers to expect what they want when they want it, how can music compete when new era distribution channels attempt to limit consumer choice?
