Music to MafRIAA: 'Give Us Us Free!'
Universal Music Group, the world's largest recording company has announced that they are going to release music free of DRM - that's Digital Rights Management - to be sold online by Rhapsody, Best Buy, and others. Well, it's about time! They're a bit late to the party, as one of their competitors EMI has been distributing DRM-free music via iTunes for a few months now, to glorious effect. (Other smaller labels had been successfully doing this DRM-free thing for years)
The new digital music files will be in MP3 format, and will contain an inaudible "watermark" This watermark will help the label track files on P2P networks to see if the release of unencumbered music increases piracy, among other things. The watermark will contain no unique identifiers - kind of like a music serial number that marks a particular copy of that song - that will allow the label to track the source or rightful owner of files they find on the 'net. My guess is that the watermark will probably be used to count plays or transfers using services like BigChampagne and the like. It'll be like counting radio spins or SoundScan numbers, I'd say, and at some point will probably be factored into Billboard numbers to determine what song is "the most exchanged file" per day or per week, etc.
"But wait," you say. "Weren't record labels through their trade group the RIAA, suing people, and screaming that piracy and P2P file-sharing was killing music?"
Yes, they were. But the truth is quite the contrary.
"And wasn't DRM like Apple's FairPlay and other schemes designed to remove the ability to pirate digital music?"
Yup. And FairPlay has been cracked at least three times I know of, so that wasn't foolproof either. Even Steve Jobs hates FairPlay because he realizes it stiffles sales at his own iTnes Music Store.
"And weren't they suing hapless downloaders, and even some people, including deceased grandmothers without internet connections?"
Sure were.
"So now, no DRM? After this entire sordid episode? What gives?!"
Well, in short, you were lied to.
Let me give you a little bit of information: CDs, LPs and cassette tapes never had DRM. Sharing always existed because it wasn't possible, nor was it feasible to install some sort of DRM. When Sony did try to include DRM and rootkits on music CDs early this year, they were pilloried because the rootkits caused computers to freeze and crash. It was a PR nightmare for them! As I've told anyone who'd listen, (sottovoce) piracy was NEVER an issue. The issues are:
This whole mess has been a colossal disaster for the labels and the RIAA, as they're now universally hated, because they tried to demonize customers for wanting what they had before MP3s and AAC files: Buyers simply wanted to control their music - that they paid their hard-earned money for - play it anywhere and on any device, without restriction and exercise their own fair use rights. And in the end, if DRM goes away, Steve Jobs' - and my - predictions that music sales will explode will almost certainly come true.
The new digital music files will be in MP3 format, and will contain an inaudible "watermark" This watermark will help the label track files on P2P networks to see if the release of unencumbered music increases piracy, among other things. The watermark will contain no unique identifiers - kind of like a music serial number that marks a particular copy of that song - that will allow the label to track the source or rightful owner of files they find on the 'net. My guess is that the watermark will probably be used to count plays or transfers using services like BigChampagne and the like. It'll be like counting radio spins or SoundScan numbers, I'd say, and at some point will probably be factored into Billboard numbers to determine what song is "the most exchanged file" per day or per week, etc.
"But wait," you say. "Weren't record labels through their trade group the RIAA, suing people, and screaming that piracy and P2P file-sharing was killing music?"
Yes, they were. But the truth is quite the contrary.
"And wasn't DRM like Apple's FairPlay and other schemes designed to remove the ability to pirate digital music?"
Yup. And FairPlay has been cracked at least three times I know of, so that wasn't foolproof either. Even Steve Jobs hates FairPlay because he realizes it stiffles sales at his own iTnes Music Store.
"And weren't they suing hapless downloaders, and even some people, including deceased grandmothers without internet connections?"
Sure were.
"So now, no DRM? After this entire sordid episode? What gives?!"
Well, in short, you were lied to.
Let me give you a little bit of information: CDs, LPs and cassette tapes never had DRM. Sharing always existed because it wasn't possible, nor was it feasible to install some sort of DRM. When Sony did try to include DRM and rootkits on music CDs early this year, they were pilloried because the rootkits caused computers to freeze and crash. It was a PR nightmare for them! As I've told anyone who'd listen, (sottovoce) piracy was NEVER an issue. The issues are:
- Crappy music released by the labels
- Industry desires to change the length of copyright to now cover the works for the life of author plus 70 years
- Changes in the way sales are calculated, meaning that labels could no longer just ship 3 million units for an album to go platinum (but only actually sell 750,000, and hide the rest in the basement) and
- Fear that decentralized creation and distribution of music will change the business model of the major labels.
This whole mess has been a colossal disaster for the labels and the RIAA, as they're now universally hated, because they tried to demonize customers for wanting what they had before MP3s and AAC files: Buyers simply wanted to control their music - that they paid their hard-earned money for - play it anywhere and on any device, without restriction and exercise their own fair use rights. And in the end, if DRM goes away, Steve Jobs' - and my - predictions that music sales will explode will almost certainly come true.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Music to MafRIAA: 'Give Us Us Free!'.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.obsidianhustle.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/17
Leave a comment