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Tim Lee

Songbird

Mike Linksvayer points out the release of Songbird 0.2, an early preview of an open source iTunes competitor based on the Mozilla code base. And he predicts that Songbird (or a product like it) will do to Apple what the Web originally did to AOL and other proprietary online services in the 1990s:

Someone mentioned to me today that if the web were like iTunes you could only connect to msn.com, which reminded me of speculation that earlier aggressive intellectual protectionism online could have led to a proprietary cul de sac in online services. In that post I said without explanation that aggressive protectionism is being allowed to kill or stunt online music. People have been noting for awhile that protectionism enabled iTunes’ dominance, or as Techdirt put it “How The Recording Industry’s Obsession On DRM Made Apple So Powerful.”

I’ve downloaded Songbird and played with it a bit, and it is pretty impressive in some ways. However, I don’t think Apple will have any reason to sweat until they implement iPod integration. Songbird has a “devices” menu, so I assume that’s coming. It’s also a little strange that they don’t offer MP3 ripping functionality, given that some of its developers previously worked on WinAmp.

But what they’ve implemented so far is quite impressive. I hope eMusic is talking to them about tighter eMusic/Songbird integration, as this would give eMusic customers a much cleaner way to buy music than the current clunky “download manager.” And of course Songbird would benefit from having a music store as tightly integrated as iTunes is with the iTunes Store.

It appears that some of this functionality is available via extensions, but if they want to put a serious dent in Apple’s market share, they’re going to have to bundle the most important extensions seamlessly with the main product.

October 20, 2006 | Comments |

  • Lewis Baumstark
    If they want this to be a mainstream product (ie, something with a business model behind it), they're probably avoiding mp3 ripping because of patent issues. Or at least avoiding it until they secure licenses for it.
  • David McElroy
    I have seen the web-based video preview of Songbird, and I can't figure out why Apple should be concerned. Here's why:

    -- Songbird is competing with iTunes, not the iTunes Store. iTunes is free, so there's no cost savings that come from using it.

    -- Songbird looks like something put together by a committee. It seems to have too many features jammed in (as opposed to being simple). Yes, I know that both it and iTunes are based on browser code, but you unnecessarily complicate things for non-geeks when you start browsing web pages inside your media player. (Hint: There are still a LOT of people who don't understand the difference between a browser and a search engine or a web site. I know people who ask me whether they should use Safari or Yahoo for a particular task.)

    -- Third, anyone who has seen both Songbird and iTunes realizes immediately that the Songbird UI feels like a ripoff of iTunes. There's nothing to give a user ANY quick reason for believing that there's an advantage to Songbird.

    -- Fourth, it's hard to deliver a consistent user experience when you allow (and encourage) the kind of garish color combinations that Songbird encourages. (The demo I saw raved that you could change the colors just like MySpace, which should send chills down the spine of anyone who cares about design.)

    Overall, there appears to be no compelling reason for a normal (non-geek) person to use Songbird or even try it. Normally, when you have a new product, you have to be able to quickly tell someone why he would want to try it: it's cheaper or offers an easy-to-understand new feature, etc. Songbird merely appears to be a free ripoff of another product that's already free. Outside of the geek market, I don't see this going anywhere.
  • Lewis, I don't know about CD ripping specifically, but an open ended extension mechanism does have the advantage of allowing extension creators to add features the company could not, e.g., circumventing DRM or other lock-in.

    David, Songbird may compete with the iTunes player directly, but it is the web that competes with the iTunes store. It is the web that I'm betting on. Songbird simply takes advantage of the web as no other media player does. Perhaps that will remain a geek-only thing forever, I am hardly one to judge.

    "Skins" and MySpace also send chills down my spine, but apparently the general population likes them. :)
  • On www.windjay.com, I have initial implementations of iPod support and eMusic integration. These will only get better over time. I'm really excited about the eMusic integration because it greatly improves upon the user experience.

    What will differentiate Songbird from iTunes is its ability to integrate with all of the online music services that seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately. eMusic is just one of many of these (e.g., Rhapsody, Loudeye, AudioLunchbox, myspace and other SNOCAP stores, etc.). Songbird will enable these services to much more effectively compete with the iTunes store and to provide a better user experience than they currently provide.

    I think the online services integration is one of the most compelling features for non-geeks. As more and more non-geeks use non iTunes store services, Songbird will become more compelling for them.
  • Lewis Baumstark
    Lewis, I don't know about CD ripping specifically, but an open ended extension mechanism does have the advantage of allowing extension creators to add features the company could not, e.g., circumventing DRM or other lock-in.


    True. With the possible strategy being "we can't officially support drm circumvention or patent violation (e.g., mp3), but we'll leave hooks so our customers can do it themselves."


    Time will tell just how gutsy this is. For example, could Songbird be held responsible under the Grokster precedent for leaving these hooks in? Could facilitating user modifications be equated with Grokster-style inducement if those modifications were found to violate copyrights/patents? Let's hope not.

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