The vast release of material in any one competing format would provide the ample content needed to build a worthy competitor to MP3's dominance on the Net. The problem is that both companies will use different formats. Other music labels are expected to make similar announcements soon. Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI all look to join Sony and BMG by the middle of this year. These companies have money, lots of it.
Deep pockets can go a long way in staking ones claim in a Web equivalent of the Oklahoma land rush.
What still needs to be established is evidence of vision, the direction that utilizes that money in an efficient manner. An example of vision, or lack of it, is the music industry's legal attempts to derail digital music downloads from the Net. Rather than assemble a game plan to explore this new field, they initially condemned it and went to the courts to stamp it out. The irony is that nothing may have promoted online music trading more than the miles and miles of press attention directed to these lawsuits. Despite these set backs and backlashes, the record companies do have one major ace in their favor.