Sep06
21
Pick ‘n Play
Pick ‘n Pay has launched Pick ‘n Play (thanks to Mike for the headsup) - a music and mobile content donwload site.
It’s pretty basic for now, they seem to be building it from the ground up, which I like, and illiciting a bit of feedback from users as part of the development process. It’s lacking content, for now (they claim to be adding 1000 tracks daily) and I’d like to see an index of all the downloadable content that I can browse, not just a basic search facility. They’d do well to build in peer recommendation and review (the Amazon model) as it grows.
I’m less critical than Mike - at least someone is trying (I’m still pissed off that iTunes doesn’t let us download).
HOLD THE PHONE!!!
I’m trying to order a song as I write this and I get the following message:
Dis nou kak (translation: this is now not very clever on the part of Pick ‘n Pay).
I’m officially unimpressed.
I had the same problem on Musica’s online store, well worse actually, their site does not work in either Firefox or IE 7.0 RC1
Mike I went to check it out myself and went through the same experience as your good self. Why!?!?!
I bet their developers told them that only 10% of people use Firefox or other browsers so they didn’t have to worry. What they didn’t say is that the early tech adopters who they desperately need to get the ball and word of mouth rolling have probably got at least a 50% Firefox penetration.
Shaun Dewberry has been bitching about it as well, on dewberry.co.za. We’ve actually contacted Pick ‘n Pay about this so they know Shaun’s post is there, but their Windows only policy still remains on their FAQ page. Its gone from foolishness to arrogance.
You said it Rob. I’m just bleak that no-one responds to our cries for help! Give us a decent music download site! I really, really want to do it leagally!
Hey Mike - thanks for the link to my post. Possibly i should have embelished a little and posted my user experience -similar yours(i got busy and then forgot)
Anyway my critiscim basically boils down to if youre going to something everyone else is starting to do/ doing, then at least try and do it a bit different (or well for that matter.As you said they fail on all counts
I happen to have a little insight into the background of Pick ‘n Play. The bottom line is that compared to the music labels, Pick ‘n Pay is a small fish in a big pond. The record labels will not supply content unless a DRM system is used - a DRM system that they trust.
In essence there are only 3 such DRM models out there : Microsoft, RealMedia and Apple.
Apple does not license their technology to other online vendors - they don’t want to create competition for theirt iTunes / iPod market domination.
RealMedia is hugely expensive, requires more computing power and locks the user into their RealMedia player. Their player has a fairly small market penetration footprint.
Microsoft’s offering is everywhere. Every PC shipped with XP can play the music. Not only that, once you’ve downloaded a song to your PC you can use many of the popular third party players (my preference : Winamp) to play the WMA files.
So to sum it up :
1. No DRM = no music content on the site (wouldn’t that be fun)
2. Windows Media Player = maximum market penetration.
Oh, on the issue of the popup in FireFox warning that you have to use IE to download music - I contacted the support team and was informed that this has to do with ActiveX support in Non-IE browsers. What happens when your machine receives a license is that the web page has an ActiveX control in it that stores the license in a database belonging to Windows Media Player. FireFox (and other browsers) don’t have native support for ActiveX controls so they use a plugin to run the control. Support is patchy at best at the moment but the guys that developed Pick ‘n Play are trying their best to get it to work - mainly becuse they also prefer the Fox to IE !
What I like about Picnplay is that they give you chance to give them feedback. And they take it seriously. After sending some feedback, I got phoned by the MD (of the company who developed the site), and he chatted to me for about 15 minutes. Which is actually remarkable. I think they keep to the basics, and I agree that they seem to be adding more features as they get feedback from us. The site’s also much faster than its competitors locally.
Thanks to Warren and Norman for your comments. All valid points, but I still have a problem with the attitude displayed in the FAQ / policy section of the site that says (under ‘I have a problem opening files on my Mac’)…
“It’s a Windows world. Get used to it…”
I’m really glad to hear, Warren, that they’re trying to get it to work, but then let them display that attitude of ‘we’re working at this’ through the error messages and policies and not a one-dimensional approach as is displayed currently.
But as I said originally, just really glad someone’s trying something
Yes I agree Mike, it’s good to hear that they are trying to get it to work and personally I really hope they succeed.
But if they really do care, they need to communicate this and that FAQ page doesn’t do that. I actually can’t beleive its still there. Also participating in public forums takes a bit of pride swallowing but it engenders loyalty. Why do so many brands fear this?
The best local site so far is rhythmrecords.co.za. Unfortunately their catalog is limited (but growing) and you won’t get any international stuff, but it’s all DRM free and mp3, so at least we can support the SA scene.
Oh yeah, the tracks cost six bucks of which three goes to the artist - that’s a pretty decent split.