Melodeo plans music service from iTunes playlists
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Melodeo Inc. said on Tuesday it plans to help music fans expand use of their iTunes digital music collections beyond their desktop computer and iPod by streaming songs in personal libraries to mobile phones.
Context & Ripple Effects
Melodeo is building on an existing tension in Apple's ecosystem: as far back as September 2006, the iTunes Music Store sold Bob Dylan's 'Modern Times' wrapped in copy protection that blocked ripping to CD, meaning purchases were already tethered to Apple-approved devices. A personal library locked to desktop and iPod leaves mobile phones — the fastest-growing screen — outside the walls.
First-order effects
- iTunes customers gain a way to hear their existing libraries on mobile phones without repurchasing tracks, with Melodeo positioned as the bridge between Apple's collection and carrier handsets.
Second-order effects
- Apple faces pressure on its device-pairing model: if third parties can stream iPod libraries to any phone, the iPod's role as the sole portable home for an iTunes collection weakens, and carriers gain a content play that does not depend on their own download stores.
Third-order effects
- If libraries travel by stream rather than file, ownership migrates from the device to the network — a structural shift that would eventually force rights holders and Apple alike to treat the personal library as something hosted, not stored.
The trend: Personal music collections are migrating from device-bound files to network-accessible services, with third parties like Melodeo moving first into the gap Apple's hardware lock-in leaves open.