Datz Music Lounge

Datz Music Lounge was a UK based subscription download music service, which launched in October 2008.

It was thought to be the first service in the UK to offer its members unlimited tracks legally in MP3 format for a one-off cost. Record labels which were on board included EMI, Warner Music, The Orchard and Beggars Group, with the library being progressively extended through new labels. At launch Datz had on offer around 1.4 million tracks from artists including Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Elvis, Blur and REM.

Datz Music Lounge tracks were DRM-free MP3s, allowing them to be burned to CD and transferred to other devices including the iPod; additionally, the music was the customer's to keep forever once the subscription ended. Bitrates ranged between 256 and 320kbit/s.

The system requirements were Windows XP Service Pack 2 or 3 or Windows Vista. A Mac version was due for release in April 2009. At least 512MB of RAM was recommended for XP members and 1 GB for Vista. Between 30MB and 600MB of available hard disk space was also needed, depending on the amount of music downloaded. In order to use the software, the user had to set up an account, which could be used on up to two computers; however, tracks could only be downloaded on one computer at a time.

The product retailed at £99.99 for a 12-month subscription, starting from the date of activation.

Datz Music Lounge had a sister site Datz.com, which launched in August 2007 and delivered a la carte downloads for 79p. Datz.com was founded by Michael Richardson in Oxfordshire.

Closure

In August 2009, the service appeared to be in trouble, with many of the artists previously offered no longer available, and emails sent to the company receiving no response.^[1] and calls not being answered.^[2]

By September 2009, a notice was displayed on the website stating, "Datz Music Lounge is currently closed, sorry". When accessed from the main Datz website, the URL of the page redirected to "http://www.datz.com/gone.html".^[3]

By October 2009, the datz.com domain was serving up a generic page from searchportal.information.com.

Sources

• http://datz.com
• http://datzmusiclounge.com
• http://stuff.tv/news/Datz-Music-Lounge-offers-unlimited-MP3s-for-100/11134/
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7699000/7699487.stm
• http://www.techdigest.tv/2008/10/datz_music_loun.html
• http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1035996&c=1
• http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/mulligan/archives/2008/10/datz_music_loun.html
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2008/10/30/dlmusic130.xml
• http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i08392902a19f29558fce7c7b02ed6402?imw=Y
• http://www.t3.com/news/datz-introduces-music-lounge-subscription-download-service?=37106
• http://www.coolfer.com/blog/archives/2008/10/the_9999_feedin.php
• http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2008/press111.htm
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/30/music-downloads-mp3
• http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/article5043441.ece
• http://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/datz-music-lounge-what-it-means-for-apple/
• http://www.techradar.com/news/audio/-99-99-unlimited-music-for-life-481023
• http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/11/01/datz-real-threat-omnifone
• http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200844/2364/Unlimited-music-for-one-annual-fee-now-Datz-a-good-deal

References

1. ^ Bitterwallet: Exclusive - now Datz not what I call music: what’s gone wrong?
2. ^ Bitterwallet: Datz Music Store fail to answer questions, still have your money
3. ^ "Datz Music Lounge is currently closed". http://www.datz.com/gone.html. Retrieved 2009-09-08.