Ben
30th August 2007, 11:00 AM
Email:
CONNECT Music Service to Phase Out
To Our Valued Sony CONNECT Customers,
Today Sony announced its intent to move to a Windows Media Technology platform for Walkman® products in the United States, Canada and Europe. We strongly believe that the decision to embrace a more open platform will enable us to provide you with a better music enjoyment experience. As a result of this change, we will be phasing out the CONNECT Music Service, based on Sony's
ATRAC audio format, in North America and Europe. Specific timing will vary by region depending on market demand, but will not be before March 2008.
All of Sonys new Walkman music and video devices will be supported by a very wide range of third party services around Europe.
We are fully committed to helping you through this important transition away from a proprietary music service. In the coming weeks and months, we will keep you closely informed of the status of the CONNECT Music Service phase out in your country, and provide you with the best possible guidance on how to successfully transfer your music library to an MP3 or Windows Media-compatible format. Periodic updates will also be posted on the CONNECT music store and on the Sony Europe customer service site, http://support.sony-europe.com
We recommend that you use any outstanding promotional vouchers or account credits prior to March 2008.
Thank you for all your purchases and feedback so far, and for your continued support as we work to complete this transition with as little disruption to you as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Sony CONNECT Europe Team
Good riddance. This must be a big win for Microsoft, to see the Walkman brand falling under their DRM, and a blow for Apple. Microsoft's portfolio of DRM customers is far-reaching, it can only be a matter of time before good music stores/music management and good players appear.
I'd imagine the main reason for this change is to counter Nokia's move to Windows DRM. Sony must surely know that without supporting the only viable DRM standard the Walkman brand, particularly in phones, is at risk of losing out to Nokia's new, aggressive music strategy.
CONNECT Music Service to Phase Out
To Our Valued Sony CONNECT Customers,
Today Sony announced its intent to move to a Windows Media Technology platform for Walkman® products in the United States, Canada and Europe. We strongly believe that the decision to embrace a more open platform will enable us to provide you with a better music enjoyment experience. As a result of this change, we will be phasing out the CONNECT Music Service, based on Sony's
ATRAC audio format, in North America and Europe. Specific timing will vary by region depending on market demand, but will not be before March 2008.
All of Sonys new Walkman music and video devices will be supported by a very wide range of third party services around Europe.
We are fully committed to helping you through this important transition away from a proprietary music service. In the coming weeks and months, we will keep you closely informed of the status of the CONNECT Music Service phase out in your country, and provide you with the best possible guidance on how to successfully transfer your music library to an MP3 or Windows Media-compatible format. Periodic updates will also be posted on the CONNECT music store and on the Sony Europe customer service site, http://support.sony-europe.com
We recommend that you use any outstanding promotional vouchers or account credits prior to March 2008.
Thank you for all your purchases and feedback so far, and for your continued support as we work to complete this transition with as little disruption to you as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Sony CONNECT Europe Team
Good riddance. This must be a big win for Microsoft, to see the Walkman brand falling under their DRM, and a blow for Apple. Microsoft's portfolio of DRM customers is far-reaching, it can only be a matter of time before good music stores/music management and good players appear.
I'd imagine the main reason for this change is to counter Nokia's move to Windows DRM. Sony must surely know that without supporting the only viable DRM standard the Walkman brand, particularly in phones, is at risk of losing out to Nokia's new, aggressive music strategy.