SONY DEVELOPS A SMARTER KEY CHAIN

The Sony device is simple—just one button on what is no larger than a car alarm remote. When users hear a song on the radio they like, they simply press the button. Once home, the device can be hooked up to a PC and connected to the eMarker Web site. The site then determines the bookmarked song by matching the radio station playlist with the time the bookmark was created. On the site, users can listen to clips of the music, save the songs in a database or purchase the albums from online retailers.

The device is similar to Xenote's iTag, which was introduced earlier this year. Both companies are working with broadcast database companies. Xenote has been giving its product away, while Sony plans to sell the eMarker for an as-yet-undetermined price.

Eventually, both companies hope to link to Web sites where users can legally download music. "I'm not sure just what that site might be," said a Sony rep. "Where could we point consumers to buy music? Who do we know that has their fingers already in the music pie? That's the real puzzler."

Of course, both devices won't just be useful for consumers but about consumers as well. Both companies may be able to sell valuable data about consumers' listening habits to radio stations.

Said one industry insider: "With the iTag and eMarker giving us marketing data and giving consumers information about their favorite songs, soon we won't need a radio staff at all."