Michael Robertson, Founder MP3.com
Jim Sheridan, Onehouse LLC/Pho Group
Talking about his idea for a digital music locker. His underlying idea: everything digital is moving to a cloud.
Downsides of locker:
- Music is passive
- How do I get it to all of my devices
Amazon music was the nail in the coffin for DRM music from Best Buy or Napster.com
Lockersync: Autosyncing. Anytime you download a song, it gets zapped to your locker. His device is connected to that locker.
Demos his autoplay. With the creation of playmix, you can create a radio type experience. Now, is he building a business on the backs of the intellectual property of others?
Here’s how he uses personal locker.
- Same level of security as banks
- No anonymous access
- They have access controls and looks at simultaneous access. If too many people access a locker, then the locker is shut down
- He’s selling delivery and distribution of the music.
He’s been sued by EMI and has refused their request to show them the contents of everyone’s locker.
Streaming seems to be an inevitability, a digital inevitability, as he calls it.
The future of the locker? Locker gets into many kinds of storage devices such as phones, cars, etc.
BTW, lockers are free.
Final thoughts: Bottom line is that he’s got the financial wherewithal to weather the legal battles he gets. I mean, this guy gets sued every time he launches a new piece of technology. So, while his story is inspiring (and it’s great to hear about cool stuff), there’s this cautionary side to it. If you can’t afford to litigate, you probably don’t have money to get the necessary clearances for the music in the first place.
