Writing for the Reuters news service, Sue Zeidler reported that Sony’s online music service Pressplay may be headed for the Mac sometime in 2002. The news comes in a new article entitled Pressplay Hopes to Run on Macintosh This Year.
Pressplay CEO Andy Schuon isn’t offering any guarantees, but he said during a recent conference call that the company hopes to make its service available to Macs sometime this year. Currently, Pressplay only runs on Windows-based PCs. Zeidler intimated that other similar services may follow suit as well.
Pressplay and other record label-owned music services have appeared in the wake of Napster’s collapse as a free music service last summer. Up until then, Napster users depended on the service to download and trade music in MP3 format, often in violation of the copyright notices offered by the music publishers themselves.
High-profile litigation between services like Napster and the Recording Industry Association of America aside, the success of services like Pressplay is far from guaranteed. Such companies face daunting challenges on the road to consumer acceptance, based on comments made during the conference call.
Executives generally agreed that the most likely form of success will come using an affiliate business model, where they license their services and libraries to established online media companies, rather than trying to create a brand new identity themselves. Portability — the ability to listen to digital music any time, anywhere — is also an issue, as is a complicated and excessive licensing structure.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.