Unlimited Legal Music Downloads for $3.95 a Month?

fishmasta writes "I'm at a major university studying the music industry, so we get to regularly talk to executives in the major labels. In a recent talk with someone working at Warner Bros, she brought up an idea they want to try where all file sharing is legalized by paying $4-5 a month through an ISP, all downloads are permanent, and you can get them from any source, and do what you want with them. It seems like some in the industry are starting to 'get it.' I was just wondering what Slashdot thinks of this idea. Would you be willing to pay a small fee each month if you could get all the music you want and have no legal liability?" El-Man has another take on that subject replacing "unlimited" with a set number of licenses: "I believe that people are basically honest (maybe a failing, but it's how I feel), and are quite happy to pay for something of value. With music downloads, the only solution the recording industry has come up with is wrapping digital files with onerous, incompatible DRM systems, suing those whom they say have illegally distributed music (what is it, 13000 people and counting? Surely the courts have better things to do!), and generally not doing themselves or music lovers any good. How about a system, whereby a user can purchase a license for [n] amount of digital music files? Numbers can be, 10, 50, 100, 200, etc. Doesn't matter what the files are, as long as the number is not exceeded. There'd be a lot of details to thrash out, but is this something that is ultimately workable?"

If you were an executive of a medium-to-large sized record company, how would you handle the potential of the Internet?

Comments

Janus is as good as it gets - and it's pretty good

[MBraynard]

Right now the closest thing to this is the Janus/PlayForSure system (STFU all you folks who make the arguments that it only works with a Janus compatable device / 'you don't own the music' - we heard it. whatever.)

The problem with even this system where the labels have a strong incentive to participate - stronger than what is described in the thread as they have an ongoing profit stream - is that many labels simply choose not to participate.

And the ones that don't participate are most often techno/progressive/indi music that a lot of serious music downloaders are more inclined to be interested in than the general populace.

If you can't get all the players to the table under a system as rich as Janus than any system that offers them less money/control is doomed.

Seriously, DRM is the future, it isn't 'crippling', it's practicle and effective. You rent almost _everything_ for $6 a month and you can put it on your compatible player and take it with you OR access the entire library from work or from home or wheever else. Just assumed you did own everything and didn't have to pay for all of the dozens of new releases each week. How much is it worth to you to have to catalog and load it all onto the internet so you can have access to it anywhere? This is what Janus provides to you.

Another great chance to get in on it will probably be within the month as Urge launches with a loss leader prices of probably around 5-6 a month with a big coupon to get a PlayforSure device.

Re:From a future executive?

[sootman]

And I've set up shop next door: "No, Copyright Studios!"