Kazaa creators back in the music bidniz
p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- Niklas Zennstrom (left) and Janus Friis created Kazaa which, in 2009, arguably has the singular distinction of being the most hated and despised of all corporate P2P digital media distribution applications. Priit Kasesalu is the third, rarely mentioned, member of the team.
Owned either by Australia’s Sharman Networks or Sharman associate Brilliant Digital Entertainment — actual parenthood remains uncertain — it was the application most used by victims of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s RIAA in their bizarre sue ‘em all marketing campaign in which they tried to convince music lovers to buy their ‘product’ by suing them instead of wooing them.
Now Zennstrom and Friis, at the least, are back in the online music business.
They’ve created and financed a “secretive start-up,” with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco,” says the New York Times.
Are they calling it Kazaa II?
Nope. Their new product is registered as Rdio through which K&J are, “hoping to introduce a music subscription service by early next year that offers seamless access to music from both PCs and cellphones,” says the story, going on:
“The big challenge will be to get licenses from the major music labels, which have not viewed past digital music efforts by Mr. Zennstrom and Mr. Friis favorably.”
But, “Mark Piibe, the head of digital business development at the EMI music label, confirmed that talks were under way with Rdio and said there was no reluctance to deal with the pair,” says the story, which has him saying:
“They’re businessmen with a real track record of innovation.
“They are bringing a lot of new ideas to music distribution and there is no reason why we wouldn’t talk to them seriously.”
And certainly, EMI needs all the help it can get, as do the other members of the Big 4 music gang.
Stay tuned.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
most used – Kazaa, the RIAA and Jammie Thomas, October 17, 2008
remains uncertain – Has Sharman Networks sold Kazaa?, July 23, 2009
New York Times – Still Hoping to Sell Music by the Month, October 14, 2008
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