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DRM

Zune pay-to-share rumors floated again

ZuneScene, a fan site devoted to Microsoft's portable music player, is reporting on a Microsoft patent filing that describes a system for compensating Zune users for sharing music wirelessly.

The idea: if I send you a song, it expires after 3 days or 3 plays, regardless of where I got it from (my own CD collection, a file-sharing network, a Zune Marketplace download). If you decide you like that song and buy it from the Zune Marketplace, I get a small commission--probably points good for buying other songs from the Marketplace.

This isn't news: Engadget reported on it … Read more

Hello? Is this thing on?

Technological and musical developments go hand in hand.

In the early 18th century, the discovery (or rediscovery) of well-temperament spurred composers such as J.S. Bach to tune their instruments in new ways, making it possible to play music in all keys and essentially paving the way for what we now think of as Western classical music.

After the U.S. Civil War, cast-off martial instruments from the conflict were appropriated, combined with traditional African instruments (such as the banjo) and musical idioms, and used to create a new form of semi-improvised ensemble music with syncopated rhythms: Dixieland. Which in … Read more