MP3.com brings harmony to music industry

MP3.com has unveiled a music system designed to connect various segments of the music industry and provide interoperability among retailers, labels, music players and hardware and software tools.

Michael Robertson, chairman and chief executive of MP3.com, said the proposed Music InterOperating System (IOS) could bring different segments of the music business together in entirely new ways. He said the company plans to combine what currently are three separate actions: buying a CD, playing it on a stereo, and uploading it onto an online locker.

"We expect to change that process by connecting a music retailer with a device manufacturer and an online locker service in a way that will make it one transaction," he said.

The foundation of Music IOS is the new MP3.com Developers Network (MP3DN), a website for developers building applications to allow users to access music from various websites and internet-enabled devices.

One of the components, the Instant Listening application-programming interface, is designed to bridge the gap between consumers, retailers and developers. According to MP3.com, it will add value to developer sites by potentially increasing CD sales and allowing music-related ecommerce partners to integrate MP3.com's Instant Listening service into their site.

Another component, not yet available on the site, is the Beam-it software developer's kit, which will allow developers to integrate the company's Beam-it service into their software, device or website. Beam-it lets consumers instantly add licensed portions of their personal CD collection to an online My.MP3 music account.

In the future, MP3.com plans to offer the Transfer2Device service, which will enable the wireless delivery of digital music. Transfer2Device, which features one-step file transfer and playlist management, is designed to allow consumers to easily transfer their music collection stored in a My.MP3.com account to any web-enabled device.

The various components of Music IOS are available, or expected to be available, in the near future, for download from the company's MP3DN site at http://developer.mp3.com.