Whither DRM?
Jan. 7th, 2009 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greatbearFinally.
It appears that Apple will be selling all music through the iTunes store without DRM. It's about freakin' time. While the FairPlay DRM scheme used by Apple was one of the more flexible out there as far as restrictions and the ability to use your music on a number of computers and iPods, it was still not without it's problems. Those who failed to make proper backups or lost their original accounts by some means would have no access to their music (except through a one-time re-download from Apple), and could not use software/hardware not provided by Apple to play the songs they bought. Now people will be able to use the music they buy however they see fit.
Of course, there's bound to be an HUGE increase in piracy, right? Riiiight.
There will be, of course, a fair amount of 'sharing' going on. But it will be no different than what's going on currently, and that is no different than the countless millions of cassette dubs and what-have-you that had been going on for years prior to the 'net.
To be able to use however they see fit with their purchases is ultimately what consumers want. It's starting to happen, albeit slowly.
It appears that Apple will be selling all music through the iTunes store without DRM. It's about freakin' time. While the FairPlay DRM scheme used by Apple was one of the more flexible out there as far as restrictions and the ability to use your music on a number of computers and iPods, it was still not without it's problems. Those who failed to make proper backups or lost their original accounts by some means would have no access to their music (except through a one-time re-download from Apple), and could not use software/hardware not provided by Apple to play the songs they bought. Now people will be able to use the music they buy however they see fit.
Of course, there's bound to be an HUGE increase in piracy, right? Riiiight.
There will be, of course, a fair amount of 'sharing' going on. But it will be no different than what's going on currently, and that is no different than the countless millions of cassette dubs and what-have-you that had been going on for years prior to the 'net.
To be able to use however they see fit with their purchases is ultimately what consumers want. It's starting to happen, albeit slowly.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-08 06:38 am (UTC)It all results in me not being terribly surprised that their sales are falling - I can't imagine being the only one who thinks that an incredible proportion of what comes out of the record companies isn't worth the polycarbonate it's pressed on.
I have to wonder if companies like CD Baby - where they're upfront about how much they take out of each CD for production costs and let the artists set their own prices - are doing better relatively speaking because people don't feel that they're being taken advantage of in the way the "majors" do.