For those who don’t know, the Lucid UDS has begun today.
One of the most interesting yet controversial meetings is this: the Ubuntu One Music Store. What it will be is currently left to the imagination since no specification has apparently have been drafted yet. Selling music online has always been a controversial topic, and that adds interest in such a feature.
Also interesting, assuming the meeting’s name is meaningful and correct, the association between the Music Store and Ubuntu One, rather than with the Ubuntu Software Center.
Currently I don’t know any detail about this new project, the most obvious question is which kinds of commercial agreements will Canonical arrange with the music labels. Because the success of projects like are heavily dependent on the availability of a vast catalog of music as well as on a good price.
For sure we’d like to have Jamendo and Magnatune integrated! 
2 other obvious questions are:
- Ubuntu doesn’t ship by default Mp3 codecs. Will this change or will the music be sold in a open format ?
- What about, *cough*, DRM ?
The meeting is on Wednesday, if you happen to follow it either live or remotely, be sure drop me a note to tell me more !
Update: rephrased a misleading sentence depicting the Uds meeting itself as controversial
Update 2: I addressed most of the comments in this post. Take a look !
You forgot to give any evidence that it’s “controversial”.
@mpt: I agree that was an unfortunate sentence. Now rephrased.
This would be great, but it just seems to have a pipedreamy feel to it. Perhaps I’m too cynical to believe it would actually happen.
I can NOT stand iTunes. It is without a doubt, unquestionably the most overrated useless POC software ever designed. With that said, it would be nice to see a ‘GNU/Linux’ based music store similar to iTunes/Rhapsody. Just with a COMPLETELY different interface!! Automatic conversion of mp3/wmas to .ogg’s would be a plus.
Hello Stef
You know I see nothing wrong if we should have such a service from Canonical. If that is one of the means through which the company can stand on its feet financially and continue to give us what we are getting, I see no problem.
One thing I can be sure of is that if such a thing should materialize, then the music is going to be in the open format.
Doh! I blogged about this an hour ago and it seems it’s old news! Oddly enough we seem to have followed the same train of thought; something that got me expelled from university!
It does seem a tantalizing little discussion, and hopefully one that will be streamed (audio) as it’s incredibly vague as to what they’re proposing so far – more so with the regards to “Ubuntu One Music Store”.
I never understood online music stores to be controversial; indeed they seem very mainstream and normal.
I’ll buy music from Canonical if they make it happen.
I answered to most of the comments here:
http://www.stefanoforenza.com/ubuntu-one-music-store-answers/
Thanks for your feedback !
Why would .mp3 format be a problem if they want to sell songs!
Well mp3s are made from the original lossless format.
So I don’t see why they can’t sell it as ogg straight away rather than selling mp3 with a converter(wouldn’t including a converter have its own legal issues?)
Nice idea. I think Ubuntu needs this application
Noone wants to convert from one lossy format to another… I can understand why it’s mp3, but it would be really nice to have ogg format.
I am hoping the do ogg or flac. I’m also REALLY hoping Canonical realizes the significance of a “free” music store and is not worried about market share, such that it will be so tightly integrated in ubntu that no other distro can use it. That said as much as I don’t like ubuntu Canonical seems like a good company so I am not too worried about that.