UNDER THE HOOD
Someday the music industry will live up to its digital promise: any song, anytime, anywhere. (Someday, after big music settles on a pay-for-play digital distribution scheme that protects its precious copyrights.)
In the meantime, make way for the custom-music kiosk. These phone-booth-sized sound factories burn tracks onto blank discs, and print song lists, while you wait; all the thrill of Net music - without the Net. Several companies have trial units in place: Liquid Audio is beta-testing a kiosk in Korea, and RedDotNet has custom-CD vending machines in Disney theme parks. But musicmaker.com is making the most ambitious play, with kiosks - designed and manufactured by in-house engineers - scheduled to roll out in April at Tower Records, Wherehouse Music, and Record Town stores, among others, in a dozen US cities. Here's the key to the musicmaker.com kiosk:
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