Navio plans to set digital music free

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 23 May 2006 20:08

Your IT - Home IT

The way Apple has siezed control of the digital music download business through its combination of a tightly linked iTunes store and iPod player, a company like Navio Systems had to happen sooner or later. Navio is working on software that will enable music downloaders to buy their music from any website that sells it and download it to any portable digital music player, including the iPod.

This is good news for anyone who wants to sell music or videos online because if they happen to incorporate Navio software in their content, buyers can feel confident that it can be played on any device. Navio's software accomplishes this by storing the digital rights associated with each item of content, such as a music track, within the item itself.

In the days before digital downloads went mainstream but everyone knew it was coming, not many imagined that they would be restricted to buying music from one site that could only be played on one brand of portable player. With the advent of Navio, hopefully iPods will be just as prolific because they are nice devices, except the music they carry will come from a variety of online sources. Navio expects to have iPod compatible software for sites by the end of June.