Review of Music Box

Since the early years of the mp3, music labels have been cracking down on illegal music downloads. But Sony Bertelsmann Music Group, one of the Big Four music groups, adapted to the new culture under CEO Sir Howard Stringer with an inspiring approach to the problem. Rather than alienate consumers with lawsuits, Sony BMG Musicbox went in the opposite direction in June 2006 by providing access to its impressive catalogue of music videos and by allowing bloggers to post their favorites on their own sites.

Sony BMG has six of its legendary subsidiaries represented on the site: Columbia Records (Dixie Chicks, DMX, Three 6 Mafia), Epic Records (Shakira, Matisyahu, INXS), J Records/Arista (Gavin DeGraw, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood), RCA Records (Christina Aguilera, The Strokes, Avril Lavigne), Zomba Music Group (Pink, Britney Spears, R. Kelly), and an archive of rare and collectible music Legacy Recordings (Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Soul Asylum). Each video streams in Music Box’s Brightcove player with links to related artists and labels. Although most of the videos appear daily on MTV and VH1, Sony BMG has fewer restrictions to follow, resulting in less censorship. Of course, there’s the full catalogue of pop royalty like Xtina, Britney, and American Idol’s Kelly Clarkson, but nostalgic viewers will appreciate the Legacy Recordings warehouse, which includes everything from Michael Jackson’s epic “Thriller” to New Kids on the Block doing the Roger Rabbit and “You’ve Got It (The Right Stuff)”.

The fact that you can now legally imbed Michael Jackson’s Thriller on your blog is hands down the coolest thing about the site.