Update: It looks like the 3-download limit will be less of an issue. See my more recent post called U1 Music Store – Store Music in U1? for some speculation.
It looks like 7digital are providing the back-end for the Ubuntu One Music Store which is due to land in Ubuntu Lucid at Alpha 3 – real soon now. The screenshots below were taken by me today on my laptop. They’re from Chromium browser, not from the embedded Rhthmbox store. That should be activated soon, and I’d imagine will look similar. Here’s a little screenshot tour.
The landing page clearly has the Ubuntu One branding.
As you’d expect you can easily search for music..
..to find your favourite artist or album..
Download tracks.. In the case of this album it’s available in MP3 format at 320kbps with no DRM
Clicking ‘Download’ adds tracks to your basket..
The store also has support for ‘vouchers’. Pretty sure I recall Elliot Murphy say podcasters should get vouchers for testing the store. 
(although perhaps I’ve screwed that with this blog post)
The store supports Credit/Debit cards, Click&Buy and Paypal..
You can also track your existing downloads.
Of course this isn’t ready yet, so we can’t see it in Rhythmbox on Ubuntu yet, but it’s clearly getting there.
Interesting that they’re using 7digital, where it was expected by some that Amazon would be the choice. Also note that you can download each track 3 times on different computers. Of course you could download tracks once, then plop them in your Ubuntu One or Dropbox so they’re synced (and effectively backed up) across your machines.
I’d be interested to hear your opinions of the store in the comments.
159 Comments
That seems kinda wierd, I figured that it would have been ogg vorbis. Hey lifehacker, what was the final call about the legality of Ubuntu’s MP3 codec, is Canonical paying for the licencing on every copy distributed?
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@TehBeardMan: They are normal, plain old MP3s. You are allowed to download the file 3 times. I’m pretty sure thats how it works, I haven’t used 7digital in a while but it’s pretty good. I’d use it instead of iTunes any day.
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@HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.: I think those two comments said everything that needed to be.
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Unless Lucid Lynx differs from previous versions of Ubuntu, you won’t even be able to play the downloaded mp3′s using a default install!
Of course it will prompt you to install the restricted codecs as soon as you go to play them, but surely a partnership with someone who uses ogg or another "Free as in speech" codec would have been a better fit? Spotify use ogg streams for instance, although currently their linux library only works for Premium Members I think…
Oh well, everyones going to continue Torrent’ing mp3′s so I suppose it’s a moot point
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I assume the Ubuntu One music store will work like the Ubuntu One app(and any current software on Ubuntu that syncs with One) in that you can enter a new server address and have it use that instead. One is basically an open system that anybody can run a server for, I assume the music store will be the same.
They also have plans(currently for 10.10 I believe) for a software store(based on the current Software Center) that can function with One integration as well. Hopefully they can tie all the One services together into a nice management system for adding new sources for applications, music, and file/settings sync. If they can pull that off nicely in 10.10 they will have something nobody has ever came close to.
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@TehBeardMan: I highly doubt they will include some sort of DRM. Ubuntu/Canonical is all about being open. Using DRM would be a contradiction to that mission-statement.
Either way, we will see, I’m looking forward to try this on my laptop and desktop system.
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So if they are including an MP3 store by default, does that mean they will also be including the MP3 codec?
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You can only download the songs 3 times?
I thought Linux was supposed to be all about open-source and no restrictions and no DRM and all that jazz?
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Too bad you can’t buy vorbis and flac files from the store.. Ubuntu doesn’t even come with mp3 decoding, by default (You have to pay for it or install it illegally.)
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Isn’t the needless inclusion of extraneous software like this the reason people use Linux instead of Windows or OSX in the first place?
This comment was originally posted on Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
Isn’t the needless inclusion of extraneous software like this the reason people use Linux instead of Windows or OSX in the first place?
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Is anyone else wondering if Ubuntu have jumped the shark?
This comment was originally posted on Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
Is anyone else wondering if Ubuntu have jumped the shark?
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Man, I’ve been waiting for something like this. I’m glad to see it. I was hoping it would be Banshee that got there first. I’ll take another look at Rhythmbox now.
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Man, I’ve been waiting for something like this. I’m glad to see it. I was hoping it would be Banshee that got there first. I’ll take another look at Rhythmbox now.
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@kc2idf: ubuntu’s a bloated piece of junk. there’s far better distro’s even if it’s ubuntu based
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@kc2idf: ubuntu’s a bloated piece of junk. there’s far better distro’s even if it’s ubuntu based
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@blash: How limited do you want your music selection to be? Of course many music artists want something for their work. It is up to the artist to choose the license, not the consumers.
This comment was originally posted on Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
@blash: How limited do you want your music selection to be? Of course many music artists want something for their work. It is up to the artist to choose the license, not the consumers.
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@blash: There is no DRM. You can just download the song 3 times, but have unlimited copies everywhere. No big deal.
This comment was originally posted on Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
@blash: There is no DRM. You can just download the song 3 times, but have unlimited copies everywhere. No big deal.
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@kc2idf: I think it has. [www.google.com]
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@kc2idf: I think it has. [www.google.com]
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Uhh…I’m a little worried about the "downloaded 3 times" thing. Does that mean it will be DRMed?
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Uhh…I’m a little worried about the "downloaded 3 times" thing. Does that mean it will be DRMed?
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@bradwjensen: I just got a message back from 7digital and they told me that they do sell a few albums in the FLAC format. They also hope to sell more music in lossless formats, but they think mp3 will be "the predominant format that we sell for some time."
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@bradwjensen: I just got a message back from 7digital and they told me that they do sell a few albums in the FLAC format. They also hope to sell more music in lossless formats, but they think mp3 will be "the predominant format that we sell for some time."
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Doesn’t Ubuntu have to download legally-dubious decoders to play mp3 files?
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Doesn’t Ubuntu have to download legally-dubious decoders to play mp3 files?
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@HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.: It’s not DRM, from the sound of it — it doesn’t stop you from doing whatever you want with the files.
All it does it stop the file from being downloaded more from the times, from the account.
This comment was originally posted on Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
@HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.: It’s not DRM, from the sound of it — it doesn’t stop you from doing whatever you want with the files.
All it does it stop the file from being downloaded more from the times, from the account.
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@blash: Sure, but record labels aren’t.
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@blash: Sure, but record labels aren’t.
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Excellent! \o/
While I’m not an Ubuntu user, this is a killer feature. I would use a live CD or install it on a VM just for this. I only fear that the service might not be available in my country. As of today, 7Digital is available in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Swizerland, Sweden, UK and USA.
the 3 download limit thing is as bad as DRM (okay not as bad, but troublesome nonetheless)
i would love to see a glitzier webpage though for ubuntu music store. other than tht, great initiative, i’m sure it will work wonders for ubuntu both financially as well as in terms of popularity.
Three downloads limit is fine. You couldn’t walk into HMV and take the same CD three times because you lost the previous one. You purachase a track, they provide it to you digitally, you look after it, back it up or something (maybe using the Ubuntu One service that they provide for free!?!).
But I would like to see OGG by default, being as it is open and supported by the OS by default so it seems the obvious choice, although I don’t imagine this is a Canonical made decision.
Will music from the Ubuntu One store count towards the space limit on Ubuntu One?
Yes.