Warner to Sell Music on DVD

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Warner Music is planning an aggressive attempt to replace the CD by pushing consumers to buy their music on specially outfitted DVDs, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's music to the ears of some struggling retailers who seek a new physical product to re-capture some of the online (and file-sharing) market. 'As a retailer I'm going to be holding on desperately for any compelling physical product,' said Eric Levin, who owns two independent stores called Criminal Records in the Atlanta area. 'So the introduction of a new format...is cause for excitement.' More from the article: 'But there are some stumbling blocks that may discourage consumers from embracing DVD albums. The new discs would not play on normal CD players, meaning consumers could not simply pop their new discs into their car stereos or other players. And users would not be able to copy the main audio mix onto their computers. On the proposed DVD album, the main audio mix is to be protected by the same software that already protects the content on normal DVDs.'"

Comments

DRM yadda yadda...

[duerra]

Well now, that doesn't sound like too compelling of a physical product at all, now does it?

For those that didn't RTFA, supposedly the DVD would contain pre-ripped, lower quality versions of the song on the disc, but not actually allow you to rip the high quality versions of the song to your computer. Well, not legally, anyway.... And it doesn't say what the format of those pre-ripped songs are, either, though it could very easily be assumed that they are DRM'd as well. If they are, it probably wouldn't be iPod compatible, either, so honestly now - remind me again what the point is in them wasting money on a product that's doomed from the start?

Re:DRM yadda yadda...

[Daniel Dvorkin]

"Compelling physical product" in this context means "crippleware crap that hopefully some sucker will shell out cash for." Bizspeak 101.

You know what would be a "compelling physical product?" CD's for $5.00. Seriously. All of them. Standard price. They could still make a profit (what's the total production and distribution cost of a mass-market CD these days? Well under a buck, I'm guessing, all the way from the factory to the buyer's hands) and sales would pick up. Of course, at this point there are a lot of people who have got used to the idea of acquiring music entirely in electronic form -- either buying it from iTunes et al., or downloading it illegally, what the labels have to realize is that to most people it doesn't matter -- but I think that by and large, people still like to have a physical object they can hold in their hands.

So here's my proposal to the labels. Give up on DRM and crippleware and rootkits and all the rest of it. Just make CD's, regular, plain, unencumbered, shiny discs with music on them, and sell them for five bucks a pop. Watch sales soar. Sit back and, you know, enjoy the music, man.

Oh No!

[oscartheduck]

The current DVD encryption algorithms are SO EFFECTIVE! How will ANYONE manage to get around this? All teh warez are dooomed!

Not going to work

[GmAz]

This will fail. Its inevitable. The difference between a cassette tape and a CD was enormous. This isn't. Most people don't have a stereo system in their car good enough to even care about the audio quality of DVD Audio or even the surround sound capabilities. Nor would people go out and pay for a new stereo for their car. I looked into it once and DVD Player stereos are expensive, many exceeding $400 easily. The ability to use an MP3 player is also key. True, the DVD already has a low quality rip of the music, but who wants that. If they bought a new 60gig ipod so they can have high quality sound, they won't settle for low quality.

If this were to succeed and CDs were replaced with DVDs, online purchase of music for download would skyrocket because at least those songs can be put on their MP3 player.

BZZT! Wrong Answer!

[ToxikFetus]

"The new discs would not play on normal CD players, meaning consumers could not simply pop their new discs into their car stereos or other players."

And thus these discs will not sell. Well, that was easy. Next question?

Two reasons

[maztuhblastah]

Here, boys and girls are the two reasons why this system is doomed (and why it's obvious that Warner hasn't figured out how the consumer and the pirate think/work)

1) the main audio mix is to be protected by the same software that already protects the content on normal DVDs

So much for stopping piracy.

2) The new discs would not play on normal CD players, meaning consumers could not simply pop their new discs into their car stereos or other players. And users would not be able to copy the main audio mix onto their computers

And there goes consumer interest as well.

If SACD taught us anything, it's that consumers don't want to re-buy their collection, or replace their favorite stereo just for a minor difference in quality. It's just not gonna happen. There may be a small uptake, but the majority of consumers will say "Doesn't work in my stuff? Well then why bother?"

Bad Headline

[BigDumbAnimal]

Should read:
"Warner to Offer Music on DVD"

So let me just check I'm reading this correctly

[pandrijeczko]

Retailers -- who have faced hard times as CD sales have declined in recent years -- have been enthusiastic about the new format.

Ah, right. So it's absolutely nothing to do with the fact that (here in the UK) HMV and Virgin can charge anything up to £17.99 (approximately $30) for some of their single CDs then? Likewise, the fact that record companies/stores price-fix CDs of 30+ year old recordings (say those by The Beatles) at the same (or higher) prices than new releases is irrelevant, is it?

The CD is getting old and tired

No, what you really mean is that the likes of Sony keep making a total "pigs ear" of trying to apply DRM to the open CD format so now you want we consumers to buy all of our music again on a new format that also takes away our "fair use" of the music we buy.

As a retailer I'm going to be holding on desperately for any compelling physical product.

As a consumer, a "compelling physical product" is one which offers good value for money. Perhaps you should consider some price reductions as part of your business strategy?

offer content through a breadth of products to meet consumer needs.

Ah, so consumers *NEED* more restrictive products, do they? Correct me if I'm worng but I don't see too many consumers hammering at the doors of Sony demanding more DRM...

But the capacity of both the CD and DVD sides of DualDiscs is limited compared to normal CDs and DVDs.

Fantastic! So on the *new* format, I can have twice as many Jessica Simpson videos, twice as many out-takes from a bunch of self-indulgent musicians or albums which are twice as long filled with double the amount of boring filler tracks! Brilliant!

Warner is not proposing any generic name for the new format, beyond simply "DVD album".

Can I suggest "Get Our New Audio Disc, Suckers!"? Or GONADS for short?

But there are some stumbling blocks that may discourage consumers from embracing DVD albums.

No shit, Sherlock! And those stumbling blocks are the price, the price and the price.

The DVD album would include "preripped" digital tracks of the entire album

Ah, now I see. So instead of my dowloading free software to rip my CDs myself at an encoding level to what I deem appropriate for my playing device and my listening pleasure, you're going to do it for me, are you? And presumably you'll reflect the fact that you've done this for me in the price of the product also. Wow, life gets better...