Sony to launch key2audioXS v3 at this year's MIDEM in Cannes

December 21, 2004

Just a few days following the announcement of its copy protection policy, Sony will be launching is next generation of copy-protection key2audioXS at this year's MIDEM in Cannes. This protection aims to protect the CD content from unauthorised copying, but still allow a limited amount of private copying.

Private copies will also be protected during the copying stage while boasting the same compatibility as the original source disc. Music can be ripped only in Windows Media DRM format for supported portable players. As Sony knows consumers love to share their music, they allow music to be E-mailed to friends, but the music sent expires after a certain period.

Despite the extra protection on the disc, it still offers a disc capacity for up to 75.5 minutes of audio. Playback compatibility covers CD, DVD and SACD players, CD Car stereos, portable CD players, Playstation 1 & 2, Xbox and PCs. The protection on the CD boasts sophisticated protection against ripping as well as any circumvention attempt. Each CD has a unique identification either in the audio or data session to uniquely identify the disc, thus only users with an original disc can access any bonus content or offers that may be present.

Sony DADC will launch key2audioXS Version 3 at this year's MIDEM in Cannes. key2audioXS is the leading CD-Audio protection system that offers the optimal balance between playability and security, letting customers achieve both goals without restrictions.

What's new about Version 3:

Legitimize & control private copies
It's about protecting your profit and intellectual property, plus granting consumers their right to a seamless listening experience. This solution allows consumers a limited amount of private copies. As a label you can individually define the burn count. These copies are then also fully protected and offer the same leading efficiency and compatibility as the original disc.

Easy and safe track conversion
Encoding of the audio session to Windows Media DRM-protected files becomes easy and safe, ensuring that portable devices are supported and online distribution prevented.

You've-got-music ' Send a track to a friend
With key2audioXS consumers can now pick and send audio tracks via email. With a label defined usability period, friends can enjoy and share their favourites, facilitating promotion activities for labels.

Extended audio playtime
key2audioXS has been developed to offer music labels the convenience of extended playtime. Today, the audio part can hold up to 75:30 minutes, leaving space for additional audio tracks.

Visit Sony DADC at this year's MIDEM, booth R30.01 in Cannes, France, and learn more about winning solutions to the music industry.

Read more on key2audioXS here.

While Sony may claim full compatibility with CD players out on the market, they must not forget that the iPod is the most popular portable audio player on the market, which does not support WMA. This means that while customers may be able to play their discs on any CD player they get their hands on, the last thing iPod users want to do is lug a CD player with just because Sony (or anyone else using copy protection measures) do not trust their customers enough to rip their music for playback on an iPod.

Source: Music Industry News Network