Digital Media

It's been a good seven months since Yahoo killed off its own music service in favor of teaming up with RealNetworks' Rhapsody. The evolution of this partnership finally surfaced on Yahoo's search results late Wednesday evening. Now any time you do a search for an artist or song name you'll be able to play up to four of their tracks, in full length, right from the results. Previously the system only allowed for 30-second previews.

The updated service allows for up to 25 full-length plays per month, although users who sign up to be a part of Rhapsody's $13-a-month subscription service can get unlimited streaming plays. The music plays from the built-in Yahoo Media Player the company is calling FoxyPlayer. It automatically keeps track of how many plays you've had and includes shortcuts to the source album, lyrics, and artist page. Once you move off the page the player disappears, so if you want to keep listening you have to leave that window or tab open.

In my testing I found the player to be excellent, however Yahoo's system is still fragmented. Using Yahoo's audio search still provides short samples that play without the benefit of the player, and the basic search does not always pick up your artists, despite them being in Yahoo Music's catalog.

In the case of a big band like Oasis the only full-length tracks available were karaoke samples; once played, they still counted toward the 25-song monthly cap. When I wanted to see other songs in the collection it hopped me over to the download page where you could only listen to 30-second samples, something that will be switching over to full-length tracks "soon" according to a post on Yahoo's search blog.

All of this jumping around is bound to be confusing to the average user unless they're looking for big-name bands. Going forward, the most powerful option is going to be a player that follows you from page to page and smarter recognition of band names that are pulled up when users are searching.

Update: Made a correction regarding the FoxyPlayer being related to technology from Foxytunes.

A music subscription and download service didn't work out for Yahoo, so the portal is now trying a much safer approach.

Yahoo is planning to be a sort of guide to the Web's top music services, executives said this week. Yahoo Music users will be able to set up Web pages where they can track content offered by sites such as iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Last.fm, and Pandora.

The move is part of an overhaul of Yahoo's home page, designed to aggregate content from other sites. The move will make Yahoo much more like the directory it once was before former CEO Terry Semel and others tried to remake the company into a media company.

The new plan for Yahoo Music presents some obvious benefits. Yahoo will no longer compete in a sector packed with competitors. The Web portal also won't have to pay the considerable licensing fees charged by the four major labels. But the big question is will anybody need to make a stop at Yahoo to get their music?

First off, the vast majority of music fans spend their music dollars at iTunes. When it comes to the growing number of other music stores, many of those offer identical features. There is now a slew of places to download music (iTunes, Amazon, Wal-Mart), and to hear free streaming music (iMeem, iLike, and soon MySpace Music).

I think it was smart for Yahoo to drop its music-subscription service earlier this year. But it's hard for me to believe that consumers need anyone directing them to music. Even if they did, would anyone look to Yahoo for that?

Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News.

Yahoo Music earned kudos from one of the Web's most outspoken advocacy groups on Monday.

The music service, which has opted to get out of music retail and subscription services, is offering to reimburse customers who bought music from Yahoo Music Unlimited. The decision follows the company's controversial announcement last week that it will no longer authorize keys that allow users to transfer music to new PCs or devices starting October 1.

Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation called on Yahoo to offer customers refunds. Now that the company has, EFF is happy. "EFF applauds Yahoo's decision," said Corynne McSherry, an attorney for the group.

And surprisingly, EFF doesn't necessarily want Microsoft to also offer refunds. After Microsoft shuttered MSN Music, the company announced last spring that it would stop issuing DRM keys. After being criticized, Microsoft decided to continue supporting its music for three more years. McSherry said that Microsoft's decision ensures that customers get what they paid for. That's all EFF wanted.

"In both cases, each of the companies has been forced to acknowledge they must do right by their customers," McSherry said. "I do hope that any other vendor (selling DRM-protected media), learns a lesson. They all must live up to the conditions that they set when they sold their music."

McSherry pointed out the differences in Yahoo's and Microsoft's approaches. Yahoo has decided to "tear off the band-aid." Yahoo's approach allows the company "to break free of DRM much faster," McSherry said.

Yahoo Music is offering refunds to anyone who bought songs from the service. Is it time for MSN Music follow Yahoo's lead?

Yahoo announced last week that it would no longer issue authorization keys for the digital rights management, or DRM, software on its songs. This meant that anyone who bought songs from the service would still be able to hear their songs through its service but would be unable to move them to other devices or computers.

This did not play well with Web users. Now Yahoo Music plans to issue refunds and is trying to go one step further. If a customer would prefer music over a refund, Yahoo is looking for a way to give the customer copies of the purchased songs in the DRM-free MP3 format, according to a Yahoo representative.

Yahoo Music is transferring customers of Yahoo Music Unlimited to RealNetworks' Rhapsody service. These are both subscription music services, so Yahoo users who choose to make the move are unaffected. But those who purchased songs would be out of luck after September 30.

The question now is, has Yahoo Music raised the bar? Is it time for Microsoft to pony up with a refund for MSN users?

MSN Music shut down and announced that it would stop issuing DRM keys, only to change its mind last month and say it would continue issuing keys for another three years. As noted by Michael Spiegelman, Yahoo's senior director of music, Microsoft just delayed the withdrawing of support for songs.

A Microsoft representative could not be immediately reached.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users, has called on both Yahoo and MSN to issue refunds.

Yahoo Music is telling customers that it won't allow users who bought songs from the service to transfer them to new devices or PCs after September 30.

The announcement on Thursday has stunned the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a watchdog group for Internet users. Surely, Yahoo should have learned something from the MSN debacle. Just a month ago, Microsoft reversed a decision to stop releasing authorization keys for the copy protections it placed on songs, and will issue keys for three more years.

"Some people think they can use music wrapped in digital rights management just like they do a CD," Corynne McSherry, an attorney with EFF, told CNET News. "This should teach everyone that you can't."

To those opposed to DRM, this is but the latest example of how buying copy-protected music means that a label or music service can come in and snatch it away. Without the DRM keys, an owner is helpless to transfer songs to new devices. An owner can burn songs to a CD, as Yahoo has been telling customers to do for six months, but they then risk losing some sound quality when they rerip the music.

In explaining how Yahoo came to its decision, Michael Spiegelman, Yahoo's senior director of music, argued many of the same points that Microsoft made.

•  Microsoft said consumers would benefit by being moved to a new, superior service: Zune's Marketplace. Yahoo is suggesting customers move to RealNetworks' Rhapsody.

•  Microsoft said that the issue affects a small number of people. Spiegelman used the term "small percentage." (Neither company disclosed exactly how many people would be affected.)

•  Microsoft said that copy-protection schemes were forced down its throat by the major recording companies. Yahoo's Spiegelman says the company has realized "the time for DRM-protected tracks has passed."

But here's what is different about Yahoo's decision. While Microsoft chose to delay the eventual withdrawing of support, Yahoo says it decided to deal with it sooner rather than later.

"We definitely tracked the (MSN) situation closely," Spiegelman said. "We found (the decision to continue supporting DRM keys for three more years) just prolongs the pain. It keeps the DRM question going for years. We want to help people make the transition now."

Fine, says EFF. Yahoo has admitted that it made a mistake with DRM. But why is the company making customers pay for its error in judgment?

"This isn't just about withdrawing support," McSherry said. "It's about not compensating customers. This is pretty outrageous."

She called on Yahoo to apologize to customers and either replace their music with open MP3s or issue refunds.