With approximately 15 million set-tops already installed in U.S. homes, enhanced cable and satellite boxes could very well become the dominant platform for digital music services. Wired News delivered to your inbox or hand-held device. But the billion dollar question is when. The company's 10 million subscribers listen to an average of 18 hours of music per week via cable modem and satellite connections. We're stuck in this old system where we hear it, and then have to go somewhere to buy it in a different form, and then put it in a device to listen to it.
Proponents say set-tops offer compelling advantages over PCs for delivering music to consumers.
And in terms of security, set-tops will have smart card slots to protect customer account profiles and encryption functions for content, in addition to standard network security protocols. But broadcasters may have a hard time obtaining major-label music until after the full SDMI system is in place, which is expected to be completed later this year. He said there are a couple of ways that downloading music to set-tops could happen. So you could have it plugged into your PC and download it to your MP3 player. Send it .