{{short description|Former online music store}} {{Infobox company | name = PressPlay | logo = PressPlay music service original 2002 logo.gif | logo_caption = 2002 logo | type = Joint venture | industry = Digital music store | founded = {{start date and age|2001|05}} | defunct = {{end date and age|2003|05|19}} | owner = Universal Music, Sony Music }}
'''PressPlay''', stylised '''press''play''''', was a digital music store that operated from December 2001 until March 2003. It was a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment in response to the popularity of Napster and to rival RealNetworks' online service MusicNet, which had signed BMG, EMI and AOL Time Warner.<ref name=bypassed/> The service was unpopular and widely derided.
==History== The service was announced in April 2001 as Duet.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://nypost.com/2001/04/06/we-wanna-be-next-napster-sony-universal-the-latest-to-join-the-craze/ | title=WE WANNA BE NEXT NAPSTER: SONY, UNIVERSAL THE LATEST TO JOIN THE CRAZE | first=Allyson | last=Lieberman | work=New York Post | date=April 6, 2001}}</ref> Yahoo announced a deal to market the service.<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://www.altaba.com/static-files/312cd155-8d55-4e9e-b41c-c972ecd9d78e | title=Yahoo! and Duet Announce an Alliance to Present and Market the On-Demand Music Subscription Service Created by Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group | publisher=Yahoo | date=April 5, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/universal-sony-roll-out-digital-music-servicel-80163/ | title=Universal, Sony Roll Out Digital Music Service | work=Billboard | date=April 6, 2001}}</ref>
The service was rebranded as pressplay in June 2001.<ref>{{Cite press release | url=https://www.techmonitor.ai/technology/pressplay_to_be_official_name_for_new_subscription_music_service_created_by_sony_music_entertainment_and_universal_music_group?utm_content=EP/zh-CN/search/wordpress/page/6&cf-view | title=Pressplay To Be Official Name For New Subscription Music Service Created By Sony Music Entertainment And Universal Music Group | publisher=TechMonitor.ai | date=June 10, 2001}}</ref>
In August 2001, the United States Department of Justice began an antitrust investigation of both pressplay and MusicNet, before the services launched.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/us-probes-online-music-ventures-51242/ | title=U.S. Probes Online Music Ventures | work=AdWeek | date=August 6, 2001}}</ref>
The service launched in December 2001.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://variety.com/2002/music/news/music-business-loses-its-groove-in-2001-1117857968/ | title=Music business loses its groove in 2001 | first=Justin | last=Oppelaar | work=Variety | date=January 6, 2002}}</ref> That month, it announced an agreement with Roxio to offer users the ability to burn CDs.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/pressplay-service-to-offer-cd-burning-77475/ | title=Pressplay Service To Offer CD Burning | work=Billboard | date=December 11, 2001}}</ref>
It announced a licensing agreement with Broadcast Music, Inc. in January 2002.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/20020128_bmi_pressplay_announce_licensing_agreement | title=BMI, Pressplay Announce Licensing Agreement | work=Broadcast Music, Inc. | date=January 27, 2002}}</ref>
In May 2003, Roxio acquired the service for $12.5 million in cash and approximately 3.9 million shares of Roxio common stock and used it as a base to launch a music streaming service under the brand name Napster.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.wired.com/2003/05/roxio-buys-pressplay-napster-lives/ | title=Roxio Buys Pressplay, Napster Lives | agency=Associated Press | work=Wired | date=May 19, 2003}}</ref>
==Reception== The service was not attractive to either artists or consumers. PressPlay and rival MusicNet were given the shared 9th place on the 2006 list of the "25 Worst Tech Products of All Time" by ''PC World'', which stated that "the services' stunningly brain-dead features showed that the record companies still didn't get it".<ref name=25worst/>
The service had many restrictions: on a monthly basis, users were allowed 500 low-quality audio streams in DRM Windows Media Audio, 50 song downloads, and 10 songs burnt to CD. Not every song could be downloaded, and users could not burn more than two tracks from the same artist to CD. Downloads expired after 30 days. Songs could not be transferred to a portable player.<ref name=25worst>{{cite news |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/535838/worst_products_ever.html |title=The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time - Numbers 6 to 10 |last=Tynan |first=Dan |work=PC World |date=March 26, 2006}}</ref>
Artists were paid around $0.0023 (0.23 of a cent) per song, which led many artists to request that their music be removed from the service.<ref name=bypassed>{{cite news |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2002/02/18/technology/18SONG.html | title=Record Labels' Answer to Napster Still Has Artists Feeling Bypassed |first=Neil |last=Strauss | work=The New York Times |date=February 18, 2002 | url-access=limited | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020219233704/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2002/02/18/technology/18SONG.html?ei=5038&en=57c9d95c046a48d8&ex=1014786000&partner=ASAHI |archive-date=19 February 2002 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==In popular media== The disastrous history of Pressplay was detailed in ''How Music Got Free'' by Stephen Witt, published in 2015.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Witt |first1=Stephen |year=2016|orig-year=2015 |title=How Music Got Free: The Inventor, the Mogul, and the Thief |publisher=Vintage |pages=[https://archive.org/details/howmusicgotfreei0000witt/page/118/mode/2up?q=pressplay 119], [https://archive.org/details/howmusicgotfreei0000witt/page/228/mode/2up?q=pressplay 228] |isbn=9780099590071}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Music digital distribution platforms}}
Category:Defunct online music stores Category:Sony Music Category:Universal Music Group