Music Companies Mull Ditching DRM

PoliTech writes to mention an International Herald Tribue article that is reporting the unthinkable: Record companies are considering ditching DRM for their mp3 albums. For the first time, flagging sales of online music tracks are beginning to make the big recording companies consider the wisdom of selling music without 'rights management' technologies attached. The article notes that this is a step the recording industry vowed 'never to take'. From the article: "Most independent record labels already sell tracks digitally compressed in MP3 format, which can be downloaded, e-mailed or copied to computers, cellphones, portable music players and compact discs without limit. Partially, the independents see providing songs in MP3 as a way of generating publicity that could lead to future sales. Should one of the big four take that route, however, it would be a capitulation to the power of the Internet, which has destroyed their monopoly over the worldwide distribution of music in the past decade and allowed file-sharing to take its place."

Comments

Goodbye itunes

[tedgyz]

I surely regret commiting to Apple'S DRM and look forward to DRM-free, legal music purchases.

I really liked the itunes music management, ease of ripping my 300+ CDs, and ease of purchasing new music. But, now I realize I've built my own cage. :-(

Value for Performers

[BoRegardless]

Way back, all value was received by the performer &/or shared with his support crew/director, clear back into the times of Shakespear.

That was what copyright was for was to allow the original content creator to receive compensation from the print copy of his work.

No many users may have 1000-10,000 songs on their hard drive (I have 1000 from my CD's, thats it).

How many of those songs have I listented to? How many will I never listen to? If I had 10,000 songs would I ever be able to listen to them all? Should I pay for something I will never listen to, regardless of the "copy"? No comment on the legal side as IANAL.

The basics still apply for the vast majority of musicians in that they earn their livings from performances and from local sales at those performances and as such, DRM doesn't mean much to the average muscian.

DRM only means something to the "mass media conglomerates". They have held a monopoly that has gradually eroded over the evolution to digital, and now they face the inevitable march of technology and will have to give up the idea that listening to a recording = royalty. Radio has given users "songs" for nearly a century now, but no one stopped buying better copies or albums. I suspect the new "performance packages" will be updated frequently and "sold" as DRM free, and with creativity, the conglomerates will still earn fair incomes off the mega-acts. Thus the "songs" will come with posters, tickets to concerts, video clips, etc., as the world moves on.

Capitulating to the power of 'internet' ?

[unity100]

is there ANY question as to the opposite could have happened ?

Internet IS 'the people'. Internet is "us". "WE" are internet.

Tell me JUST one thing that have fought against the power of "the people" and succeeded ?