Comments on: Weedshare, R.I.P.

By: DanShockley

DanShockley — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:18:35 +0000

@Rob Lewis (formerly of Weedshare): “Why, back then, Microsoft even offered a functional version of Windows Media Player for the Mac!”

Um, except it didn’t support the DRM of Windows Media, so it was useless for the purposes of your choice of using Microsoft’s DRM.

Oh, and Microsoft’s Windows Media Player was always a piece of junk on the Mac.

By: hoodamanny

hoodamanny — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:06:18 +0000

This is perhaps the very reason that drm is extremely bad… Because you are reliant on a 3rd party to do their bit… If suddenly they change their policy or go bankrupt, then your music or movie collection goes from being a wonderful thing that brings you pleasure to a huge stack of 1’s and 0’s eating up your hard drive….

with mp3s or even cds no one can shut you out of your music….. (except the electricity people..)

By: RobLewis

RobLewis — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 05:59:41 +0000

Thanks for the admirably accurate and sympathetic profile of Weedshare. As an executive and co-founder of the company, I’d like to add a few points:
1) Five years down the road, tying the service to Windows Media may seem like a bonehead call. But remember, this was long before the iTunes store and the iPod’s rise to dominance, and Windows Media, by virtue of its sheer ubiquity, seemed likely to dominate on-line media. Why, back then, Microsoft even offered a functional version of Windows Media Player for the Mac!
2) While there was plenty of revolutionary “tear down the walls” rhetoric surrounding the birth of our service, without the support of the major labels we never really had a shot at long-term success. Not because we absolutely couldn’t live without their content, but because the venture capitalists we talked to—those few who would even consider doing a deal in the scary music business—BELIEVED that we couldn’t live without major-label content. And the relatively tiny amount of “angel” investment we were able to secure was nowhere near enough to effectively launch the business.
3) Regarding our use of the accursed DRM, I can only say (a) the labels we needed to sign up weren’t about to release DRM-free files in 2003. Or 2004, or 2005, or even 2006, and (b) the way we used DRM was more as a means of tracking distribution than as a way of limiting access to content. Gartner Research even praised us for doing things this way. For a startup lacking the many millions of dollars that would have been needed to develop and market our own file format, player, etc., the decision to piggyback on the Windows Media architecture was almost literally the only path open to us. Microsoft giveth, and Microsoft taketh away.

By: » DRM e dependência do Windows Media levam ao fim de Weedshare

» DRM e dependência do Windows Media levam ao fim de Weedshare — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 19:31:12 +0000

[...] É por isso sem surpresa que li hoje um post de John Buckman, fundador e director executivo da netlabel Magnatune, no OpenBusiness dando conta do fim do Weedshare. Por mais boas intenções com que um serviço de música online se apresente, a verdade é que a utilização de qualquer tipo de protecção tecnológica provoca desde logo um sentimento de antipatia junto de muitos potenciais clientes. Aliás, é esta animosidade por parte dos consumidores que tem vindo a afastar cada vez mais o mercado deste tipo de soluções. [...]

By: J Buckman Responds RE Weedshare Demise

J Buckman Responds RE Weedshare Demise — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:26:13 +0000

[...] Be sure to check out the article HERE [...]

By: Morten Blaabjerg

Morten Blaabjerg — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:54:15 +0000

Interesting read – never heard of WeedShare before, but sharing income with the users spreading the music is not a bad idea at all. I am involved in a startup which will work along lines, which are reminiscent of those you describe. I Can’t reveal any details for the time being, but we thankfully differ sufficiently to say, that we will not fail due to shortcomings such as those sealing the fate of WeedShare.

Although not a bad idea, WeedShare was conceptually flawed to begin with (as you also seem to point out). 1) DRM = bad PR and flawed product, 2) Dependency on Microsoft/one single file format = bad business, and 3) Limited to music = too much competition and too little use for users

Competing with “free” on the filesharing networks demands something quite extraordinary of an “open business” business IMO. You have to be able to offer something which is better, which is not just music or culture as a product – because this you can find anywhere.

By: Marco Raaphorst » Blog Archive » WeedShare: DRM zorgde voor de mislukking

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:43:40 +0000

[...] Via OpenBusiness kwam ik erachter dat WeedShare is opgehouden met haar service. Daarmee komt er opnieuw een einde aan een nieuw zakenmodel voor musici en fans. Echt onverwachts kwam dit nieuws niet; er zaten nogal wat nadelen aan die service. [...]