Disqus - Latest Comments for Jon Healey

Re: But Those Radio Stations Are Giving Away Free Music!

Jon Healey — Wed, 23 May 2007 19:44:33 -0000

Hmm. If radio is such a great promotional tool, why do today's most-played artists sell a fraction of what their counterparts did in the 80s and 90s?
You seem to be arguing that business models shouldn't change as technology changes -- not your usual position when it comes to the music industry. Besides, why should commercial over-the-air stations have an entitlement that online and satellite broadcasters don't have? They're already getting their airwaves for free, do they really need free content, too? If so, shouldn't that also apply to sports programming and syndicated talk shows? I mean, Rush Limbaugh would be just another guy with an opinion if not for the promotional power of radio....

Re: Sony CONNECT Disaster Impressively Well Realized

Jon Healey — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:11:48 -0000

It seems more significant to me that Sony is dropping its reliance on OpenMG, its DRM, than ATRAC, which was just a codec. Sony had been supporting WMA for a while, just not Microsoft's DRM. Now it's supporting PlaysForSure in lieu of OpenMG, and using Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows Media Player instead of its own SonicStage software. I prattle on in more depth here: http://opinion.latimes.com/bitplayer/2007/08/so...

Re: Today's Playlist Sites Are No Boon For Labels

Jon Healey — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:15:58 -0000

Hey, nice, well thought out piece. But let me offer a quibble and a more substantive argument in opposition. First, the piece was an LA Times editorial, not an op-ed. The former are written by newspaper staffers, and they're an expression of the institution's views. The latter are just items picked for the Times' public bullentin board, as it were.

Second, you write, "Don't concentrate just on what sales come from experiencing music on the Internet. Consider what sales are being lost as a result." You're not suggesting that the labels can control sales by trying to reduce the supply of music online, are you? After a decade of trying in vain to do just that, isn't it time to recognize that it simply isn't possible? The point should be to extract as much money as possible from the consumption of music online, wherever it happens. That doesn't mean signing deals with everybody -- a valid business model should be a prerequisite, and it's clear that places like Muxtape and Mixwit don't qualify. But deep-sixing Project Playlist et al. won't boost CD sales, it will simply lead people to other sources of music online. If the point of stiffing Project Playlist is to drive folks to iMeem and Last.FM, well, OK. That makes some sense economically. But if the labels are simply trying to block aggregators of online MP3s from emerging, that's a lost cause.

Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times

Re: AT&T Agrees to Neutrality Regulations (Temporarily)

Jon Healey — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:55:14 -0000

Two points, in reverse order:
Two years = one Congress. This is about giving lawmakers time to adopt industry-wide rules, as opposed to singling out one network operator.
As for the distinction between AT&T;'s new TV service and the rest of its offerings, look at it from the standpoint of the consumer. If you're buying Internet access service, you're buying a pipe that doesn't prioritize -- it's the status quo ante merger. If you're buying AT&T;'s video service, you're getting something that plays by different rules, but that's what you expect. After all, this is EXACTLY what cable does. One wire carries prioritized traffic (video channels) and non-prioritized traffic (cable-modem data). The difference is the frequency at which the traffic is transmitted.

Re: Don't Follow Leaders Watch The Parkin' Meters

Jon Healey — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:51:14 -0000

Great mix!

Re: Striking Writers: Use Your Pen To Rewrite The Future

Jon Healey — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:16:36 -0000

Actually, that piece was a column in the Calendar section. David Sarno writes Web Scout, which is about online content.