MediaGuardian has an analysis of the Microsoft and BBC Memorandum of Understanding, erroneously bundling it all into Web 2.0, which of course, it isn’t.

It concludes with a remark indicating that the BBC’s rivals might not like this because it could be seen as the BBC taking advantage of their position in order to dominate the UK market.

This might well be the case, but with the technology available today, there’s nothing stopping anyone taking a lead. You don’t need Microsoft or to be as omnipotent as the BBC.

According to MediaGuardian, the BBC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft so that both “companies can explore opportunities for the delivery and consumption of BBC content and the evolution of next-generation broadcasting”.

Ashley Highfield, BBC director of new media said “The BBC needs to work with all players in this space to make sure our programmes and content are enjoyed by the widest possible audience, without always having to come to bbc.co.uk to find it”.

Here are some ideas on how to do this:

• Move all current internet streams away from RealPlayer and onto Quicktime.
• Finish Project Jupiter, or at least make it reliable.
• Expose the functionality of Project Jupiter through a public API.
• Promote the Open Source and Backstage projects, perhaps congregating them and migrating them to Google Code.
• Drop the BBC internet Media Player project, and signup with other on demand services, such as the iTunes Store. Dates, times and schedules will become increasingly unimportant, because subscription services will remind consumers (or deliver direct) content when it becomes available. And that means no Autumn schedule, or any other period for that matter. Just commission it and deliver it, because time will be irrelevant.
• Duplicate all DAB content as MP3 streams.
• Investigate the possibilities of archiving and delivering content through Amazon S3 and ECC.

HMV’s new digital download service, hmvdigital.com is sorry:

Their press release calls it ‘an improved digital download service’. I wonder how sorry it was before?

There’s a video I’d like to share with you. It’s for a song I really like, which kept me awake at 4am this morning. But it’s only available as a stream, or to buy on iTunes – if you happen to be in the US. The stream is so abysmal that the video is unwatchable as a result, but the video adds facets to the song and the songwriter, enhancing the overall experience. One day this song will be a track of the day. But not today.

Making it a download, and sticking it on YouTube would be a great move, because YouTube have the technology to support the streaming requirements when more than one person is trying to watch the video. This attracts more people to the music.

Which is quite important when you run your own record company.

Musicrecommenders is a global music service to be launched by Nokia. “Masterminded” (and really I don’t have quotation marks big enough for that word) by media planning agency Naked and music strategy agency Frukt, and will initially offer downloads at 89p a track – 10p more than Apple’s iTunes – in the UK and Australia only.

According to MediaGuardian, the main aim is not to sell downloads. It’s main aim is to build a music brand and develop a community.

Okay. Excuse me whilst I have this puzzled look on my face.

Oh, right, I understand, it’s to get people to buy Nokia Phones instead of iPods, which aren’t phones. Yet.

This’ll be a giggle.