--- title: "Read/WriteWeb Files: Online Music" date: 2007-08-12 author: "Richard MacManus" categories: - name: "ReadWriteWeb" url: "/category/readwriteweb.md" tags: - name: "2007" url: "/tag/2007.md" --- # Read/WriteWeb Files: Online Music ![](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248im_/http://rww.readwriteweb.netdna-cdn.com/images/rww_files_online-music.jpg)Every week we have a feature called **Read/WriteWeb Files**, in which we investigate a current hot topic or company in Web technology. This week we’re going to focus on **Online Music**, something that is becoming more and more prevelant as broadband speed increases and social software functionality gets better. Our network blog on digital lifestyle, [last100.com](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.last100.com/), will also be focusing on Online Music this week and [AltSearchEngines](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.altsearchengines.com/) will list their Top 10 music search engines. So I’m quite excited by what we’ll discover over the following 5 days about online music! When you think of music on the Web, there are roughly three main eras: 1\) In the time of the Dot Com companies, it was **P2P systems** such as [Napster](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster) and [Kazaa](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazaa) that defined online music. Ultimately though P2P systems were defeated by the record companies and their heavy-handed legal tactics. 2\) Enter the [**iPod**](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.apple.com/ipod/) **and [iTunes](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.apple.com/itunes/)**, which define the current era of online music. Apple’s combo of a killer devide (iPod) with an online music storage system that syncs with the device (iTunes), has come to dominate the market. You can hardly walk down a city street these days without seeing those familiar white earplugs in someone’s ears. Competitors such as Microsoft ([Zune](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.zune.net/)) and Real Networks ([Rhapsody](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.rhapsody.com/)) are in the game too, but they’re a long way behind Apple and likely to remain so. 3) Perhaps the next defining period in music will be **streaming music over the Internet**. Already this era is underway, with startups like [last.fm](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://last.fm/) (recently acquired by CBS) and [Pandora](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.pandora.com/) making their mark. Most of the big Internet and media companies have horses in this race – [Yahoo Music](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://music.yahoo.com/), [MSN Music](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://music.msn.com/) and [AOL Music](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://music.aol.com/), to name a few. ## Beyond iTunes This new generation of online music has a big focus on **recommendations**, **personalization** and **social networking**. There are a [multitude of startups](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/directory_of_online_music_services.php) looking to become The Next Big Thing, from [Fairtilizer](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://fairtilizer.com/) ([our review](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/fairtilizer_new_online_music_service.php)) to [SeeqPod](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.seeqpod.com/) ([our review](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/seeqpod_music_and_recommendati.php)) to [MyStrands](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.mystrands.com/) (who recently took [$25 M in funding](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mystrands_personalization_25million.php) to enhance their personalization system). Even Apple, traditionally not big on social software, has recognized that it can’t sit back on its laurels in online music – they recently announced [My iTunes](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.apple.com/itunes/myitunes/) widgets, to enable you to share your music, movies and other media with friends. ![](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248im_/http://rww.readwriteweb.netdna-cdn.com/images/my_itunes.jpg)*My iTunes* So this week the Read/WriteWeb Network (R/WW, last100 and AltSearchEngines) will be exploring online music. If you have any suggestions of things to look at, please leave a comment. Also check out [this week’s R/WW poll](https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065248/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/poll_your_favorite_streaming_music_service.php): What is your favorite online music streaming service? *Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/online_music_overview.php))*