The DRM and music distribution vendor Music Public Broadcasting
relaunched
itself as Media Rights Technologies (MRT) today. The company offers some
proprietary DRM technologies, including one for audio called X1 Recording
Control, which it claims works with any file format and playback technology, protects against several different forms of transcoding and stream capture,
and supports Superdistribution, thereby allowing files to be shared on a P2P
network with compensation to rights holders at each step.
X1 Recording Control is used in the company's BlueBeat music service, which
was also relaunched. BlueBeat is a paid
subscription streaming radio service that offers over 300 different channels and
very high sampling rates of 160 or 320 kbps, which approach CD quality sound.
BlueBeat compensates for unreliable broadband internet connections by caching
large amounts of content on users' hard drives, thereby requiring as much as 4GB
of disk space on users' PCs. The service uses Microsoft Windows Media
Player 9 for music playback, though it does not use Windows Media DRM and
the files are actually encrypted MP3s.
BlueBeat is the brainchild of, and funded by, MRT CEO Hank Risan, who is
(among other things) a mathematics prodigy, musician, and prodigious guitar
collector. It is an almost completely vertically integrated service: in
addition to using its own DRM, the company does its own encoding from CDs,
instead of obtaining files from Loudeye or some other service, and it uses its own
hosting infrastructure.
BlueBeat is actually one of the most refreshing online music services to come
along in some time. It is
designed to appeal to audiences that are both audiophiles and inveterate music
explorers -- those who would be willing to pay the US $6 per month fee. Its programming is
widely diverse and intelligent, its sound quality outstanding
(unlike all other streaming services, we have yet to experience rebuffering,
even at 320kbps), and its look and feel is somewhat amateurish and iconoclastic,
probably on purpose. For now, it is not possible to download music or play
it on demand, though the company expects to add such capabilities (plus others
including controlled Superdistribution) in the future.
The nearest existing analog to BlueBeat is Microsoft's MSN Radio Plus, which
offers about 200 channels and high bit rates but not as much caching for $5 per
month or $30 per year. Of course, there are thousands of free streaming radio
services, including AOL's Radio@Netscape (ad-supported) and Live365.com
(huge variety but little quality control).
Aside from BlueBeat, we remain skeptical about the appeal of Media Rights
Technologies' X1 Recording Control DRM. Several vendors in recent months,
such as Digital Containers and File-Cash Networks, have been claiming to offer
DRM technology that facilitates Superdistribution in order to bring a copyright
respecting commerce element to file-sharing networks. Others, such as
Altnet and Weed, have been basing such capabilities on Windows Media DRM.
In addition, while stream capture is considered an increasingly significant source of piracy, we are also skeptical that X1 really does stop it
as claimed.
MRT has yet to obtain licenses from record companies (major or otherwise)
beyond the standard RIAA/SoundExchange and compulsory ASCAP/BMI publishing
licenses necessary for noninteractive streaming. If the company succeeds
in getting record company cooperation, it will be because it has convinced the
majors that its technology really does represent a step beyond the DRM schemes
from the likes of Microsoft, RealNetworks, Apple, and Sony. As for
BlueBeat itself, we like it a lot -- we're fans already.
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