Sony announced today that it plans to close down its Connect online music store in early 2008. Sony will also stop supporting its ATRAC format.
The Sony Connect store faced challenges right from its launch. The Connect software was so buggy that Sony even recommended that customers use the older SonicStage software at one point. Development on the software then stopped in April 2006.
Sony recommends that Connect customers archive their music libraries to audio CDs because ATRAC content will not be transferable to new computers after the shutdown. They also recommend that customers use up any promotional codes before March 2008.
With the demise of ATRAC, Sony’s future digital audio players will support Windows Media, MP3 and AAC files.