Culver City (CA) - Customers with an extensive library of songs on Sony's Connect store will need to act quickly before their collection essentially gets wiped out early next year.

In an announcement today, Sony confirmed that Connect will discontinue service in March 2008.  At that time it will also officially end support of its proprietary DRM-ridden ATRAC format.

This means that all ATRAC songs will become virtually invalid next March.  Music collections on Connect will essentially be locked and for the most part, unaccessible.

Sony will begin a new digital audio strategy, as its future line of music players will support Windows Media, MP3 and AAC files, but not ATRAC.  The media giant suggests users burn their existing Connect collection to CDs to have DRM-free versions of the tracks before the March change-over.

According to an e-mail sent to Connect customers, users will still be able to transfer ATRAC files to and from existing compatible players, but they won't be compatible with new Walkman devices.  Users also won't be able to transfer purchased music to new computers after March.

Also, "we recommend that you use any outstanding promotional codes, account credits or gift certificates available in your music account prior to March 2008," writes Sony in the e-mail.

Another failed SONY standard?

Aug 30, 2007 13:41     

When will you Bluray fanboys get the message??? Sony sucks at creating standards. And SONY cant do anything without huge DRM. Bye Bye Sony. Take your Bravia and go home.
RockHop report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

And people want SONYs BluRay format to succeed?

Aug 30, 2007 14:01     

I have stopped buying and will not support this company until I have convinced myself they have gone back to their previous strategy. Release a solid product, which would most likely outlive the consumer. I don't know whether its other companies's influence and business strategies, that have watered down SONY, or internal struggles. One thing that is certain, the name SONY these days, to me is the equivalent of GENERIC. I used to say things like WOW, when describing their products. These days, I get aggravated just thinking about them. Its a shame really. All the blame doesn't rest with them either, the Japanese government has become increasingly difficult to work with, especially with the export of technology.

EU critic report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: Another failed SONY standard?

Aug 30, 2007 14:49     

Yeah, CD is a terrible standard; it will never last.
McSween report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Great

Aug 30, 2007 14:55     

Talk about a kick in the nuts! Thank you Sony!
Richard report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Death_2_DRM

Aug 30, 2007 15:09     

Just another reason to avoid ALL DRM crippled junk. Windows Media has DRM too, avoid it also!
Death_2_DRM report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

ha

Aug 30, 2007 15:27     

I find it hilarious that people still think that Blu-ray is a Sony-proprietary standard.
cgeorge report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: rockhop

Aug 30, 2007 15:28     

Sony sucks at creating standards? Surely then, you must not be talking about the most successful digital formats in the known world, CD and DVD--both co-developed by Sony! Please do your research before posting here next time.
silverfrog report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

RE: McSween

Aug 30, 2007 15:57     

CDDA was a joint effort between Sony and Phillips. I dont know the extent of Phillip's involvement, but given Sony's awful track record with introducing media formats, I'd say we have Phillips to thank mainly for CD's success. Also, remember that Sony is one of the worst offenders for corrupting the CDDA standard with DRM measures, including the infamous root-kit scandal. Sony is dead to me.
Tom report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Awesome, twice-compressed music! >_>

Aug 30, 2007 16:02     

So, Sony's lossy format is going away (good), and their advice is to burn all the tracks to CD, then re-rip them and re-encode them to a different lossy format? That's the worst thing you can do! What if you have hundreds of tracks? Someone needs to put together a class-action suit or something, so their customers get decent sounding, DRM-free copies for their money...
Tom report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Compatiblility

Aug 30, 2007 16:06     

It comes down to compatibility. Sony's been releasing their own formats that only works on their players. They have solid products but their software isn't that great. Their formats also don't appeal to the masses. Mp3 files were and probably still the most popular audio files for those who download music. They should've stuck with it instead of forcing a format on consumers that only could be transferred and played on their junky software. Sony hardware is cool, but why they aren't hiring better programmers to design their software is beyound me. The user interface to the connect software is horrible as well as their software for their e-book reader. Apple did it right with itunes. A nice clean and easy to use program with a lot of functionality.

sfb188 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

CD = Philips Sony

Aug 30, 2007 16:08     

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD#History
jreis report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I dont buy anything from sony these says either...

Aug 30, 2007 16:19     

From cameras, to computers to mp3 players, sony seems to have been the worst when it comes to proprietary technology. Most everyone shares their stuff for the greater good but sony still tries to go at things alone. I still dont understand why they push the stupic memory stick or whatever its called. I would buy a camera from them but i dont want to be stuck with there overpriced memory.
webs report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Aug 30, 2007 16:40     

That's my problem also with these subscription models... If company discontinues it, all your stuff is gone gone. Like rent! Get a mortage or buy the song in a transferrable format. Lots of players will do DRM-less AAC. I always convert to MP3 anyways.
will_bc report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

CD was mostly done by Philips (~90%).

Aug 30, 2007 16:41     

Philips owns most CD related patents. Optical pickup, encoding, disk manufacturing - it's all Philips. Sony was responsible for error correction AFAIK and also produced recording studio equipment. By the way, Philips was also behind Compact Cassette use by Walkmans.
FooBar report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re:Re: Another failed sony standard....

Aug 30, 2007 16:48     

Sony did not develop the CD. Philips did. They had been working on it since the late seventies, when, in the literal last five minutes of development, they inked a deal with Sony. We can thank Sony for the length of the disc, however. Sony insisted it be able to hold all of bethoven's 9th symphony.
Scott report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I hope Sony goes bankrupt!!!!

Aug 30, 2007 21:28     

I got burned on their POS KDS 60" projection TV and they are trying to screw everyone with their f...ing DRM. I hope they get hit with the class action suit and have to pay big, those thieves. DIE SONY DIE!!!!!
Zorg report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

What will it take to realize that .....

Aug 30, 2007 21:45     

Blu Ray is not solely developed by Sony. People, for god's sake check the members of the Blu Ray Disc Association before you start spouting things like "Sony take your blu ray and die blah blah ...." Never realized that becoming anti-Sony is considered the norm these days, jeez !
Jay report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

and?

Aug 30, 2007 22:09     

All you have done is prove my point; that not all Sony formats are bad. You guys bring up memory stick--WTF does that have to do with anything? Sony wasn't bucking any trends making it. It was developed the same time Compact Flash, SD, were put out. And, Sony still supports the memory stick format in all its products, so it's not a failed product at all. Sony has some failed ideas, but what company doesn't? It's an innovative company if you ask me. And, Scott, where pray tell did you get your information about Sony inking the CD deal in the last five minutes? Were you in the company when it went down? I don't think so.

silverfrog report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Minidisc almost won...

Aug 31, 2007 00:43     

Minidisc was a good idea because it took digital music and made it truly portable, unlike the Discman which could only get so small because of the size of the CD. The downfall of the Minidisc was due to one thing, MP3 players with flash memory. Flash based MP3 players were only limited by the size of their memory chips, which increased with every generation of players. Minidisc was limited by the capacity of the disc, which was constant. If Flash based MP3 players had not come out when they did, I believe Minidisc would have become quite popular, despite being based on a proprietary system like ATRAC. This is why I think Blu-ray will win the HD war: VHS won because it had longer recording times, Flash (and later hard drive) based MP3 players won because they could hold more music, and Blu-ray will most likely win because it can hold more content.

LordConrad report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

That is good news.

Aug 31, 2007 01:11     

ATRAC is a proprietary format. Any proprietary format will be disappeared in open world. Throwing ATRAC is a good job, Sony!
Cheetah report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

How can you kill that which is already dead!?!

Aug 31, 2007 02:44     

Oh No! ATRAC is going the way of the dodo? Please... Sony effectively killed both ATRAC and Minidisc the day they made 'em proprietary. Darn shame too, minidisc should have been the next gen data storage prior to DVD. Obsolete is obsolete. Couple that with Sony's usual poor marketing strategies and well...there you have it. On a final note, I challenge all you DRM whiners to actually explain what DRM actually stands for. My bet is you can't without looking it up on the net.

SludgeMonkey report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

General feelings about Sony...

Aug 31, 2007 04:04     

I think people are reacting to the perception that Sony is trying to lock up certain markets by developing the defacto standard for that market. Sony has a long history of this... Mini-Disk, MicroMV, Memory Stick, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, HiFD, and more lately, UMD. These are all proprietary, and to the last one more expensive than the competition. Sony wants to have exclusive control of these formats. Did you know you can't get blank UMD media? That you can't get a UMD writer? Why? Cause Sony wants it ALL, they don't play nice.

Meegus report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Don't be confused...

Aug 31, 2007 06:58     

To those who think there is a long list of companies who co-developed BD, I would not get confused by the list of those who SUPPORT BD with the primary company(ies) who developed the technology and also paying others to support their product. Interesting that the BD Association was not sued here (see link) but Sony was named in the lawsuit: http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=113708
A Zebra Can NOT Change Its Stripes report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

That's what u get with DRM suckers...

Aug 31, 2007 08:53     

That's what u get with DRM suckers
john report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Second verse, same as the first...

Aug 31, 2007 08:58     

How many times are we going to see this before people catch the hint. People want: - To buy their music (not rent!) - To keep it in an open format FOR THIS VERY REASON. - Ease of purchase, ease of transfer to a device, and ease of use. This is why iTunes works... and why they are fighting to drop DRM from their tracks. They are the dominant store because they are fighting for us and trying to give us what we wanted in the first place.

John report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0