Microsoft has announced today that it will be bringing all 12,000 Netflix “Watch Instantly” streaming content videos to Windows Media Player in Vista.
Unfortunately for XP users, the on-demand service will not work with XP Media Center.
To use the content, you must be running Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate and be a monthly subscriber to Netflix. The videos are available through the Netflix app in Windows Media Player, under the “TV + Movies” category.
First time users will be asked to log in using their Netflix username and password and from there you can arrange your queue as well as search the vast library. You will also need Microsoft’s Silverlight video/animation plug-in to run the app if you do not already have it installed.
The move also allows Xbox 360 users to playback movies via streaming.
Adds Ben Reed, senior product marketing manager for Windows Media Center:
“The [lack of] of familiar controls, of pause, fast forward, rewind, that’s one of the pain points we hear from consumers about the myriad ways you can consume TV shows and movies online. Each one has a different search and discovery experience; each one has a different player; some work great full screen, some don’t.”
Result for: discovery experience
Qtrax, the ad-supported music service that launched to much fanfare (but no music) over a year ago has finally managed to get deals with all four major record labels in place.
Following last January’s embarassing debut many people questioned whether Qtrax would ever actually have any music to download. Later in the year they began announcing deals with major labels, first EMI and then Universal Music Group.
In June, 2008 they finally introduced some music to their service, followed later in the year with a deal with Sony BMG. Now they’ve announced an agreement with Warner Music Group, which will give them access to songs from every major label.
Stephen Bryan, WMG’s Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business Development, said, “Today’s music industry is undergoing a dynamic transition which has us continually exploring fresh ways
of delivering music to consumers. We look forward to leveraging platforms
like Qtrax’s to broaden the reach of our artists’ music and provide consumers
with a unique and legal music-discovery experience.”
Result for: discovery experience
The popular music community site Last.fm has launched its own online channel for video interviews, starting a trend of original content production it hopes to continue into the future.
Dubbed Last.fm/presents, the channel will show off videos of interviews with established and upcoming artists including Moby, Santogold, Joshua Radin and Neon Neon.
The site’s co-founder, Martin Stiksel, added that the interviews will “complement Last.fm’s “music discovery experience”. He also makes the somewhat bold claim that the site is the only place where “favourite artists talk so candidly about what makes them the musicians they are today”.
The videos will be distributed by CBS and its syndicate partners Joost, Bebo, AOL and NetVibes.
Since its acquisition by CBS last year, Last.fm has been aggressively expanding its services and has signed deals with all four major labels - Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI allowing the service to stream tracks for free on the site. Because of the deals, the site claims its amount of users have risen 59 percent as a result.
