W ired has published a very interesting article on BuyMusicis (BM) attempts to rip-off Appleis iTunes Music Store (iTMS) ads. If that sounds familiar, itis because we mentioned an article on the same topic from the Washington Post about an hour ago. Wired takes a different angle, however, and discusses such issues as copyright infringement, the nature of parody and homage, and includes quotes from several MacNN forum posters. The article also offers a quote from BuyMusic spokeswoman Stacey Doherty that we found fascinating. According to Wired, Doherty says that BMis ads were intended to be a compliment to Apple. From Wired:
Itis no coincidence that the ads look alike. BuyMusic.com is intentionally mimicking its successful competitoris campaign.
"Yes, there is a similarity between the ads," BuyMusic spokeswoman Stacey Doherty said. "It was meant to be a compliment to Apple."
[...]
Doherty says the point of the commercials is to entice people who own PCs, which happens to be almost everyone. "iMusic for the rest of usi (BuyMusic.comis slogan) means everyone who doesnit have a Mac, which accounts for about 150 million PC users," she said.
To remind you, BM has ads that show people singing along to pop songs while holding MP3 players, just like Appleis iTMS ads. While the Wired article doesnit mention it (the Washington Post article we mentioned earlier did), BM also has an ad where Drummer Tommy Lee smashes the same guitar Apple uses in its other iTMS ads. You can get more information on those ads in TMOis coverage of this topic from last month.
Thereis a lot more in the full article from Wired, as well, and we recommend it as an interesting read.