Slashdot Mirror
Puretracks Music Store Drops DRM
khendron writes "The Canadian online music store Puretracks (a store I have generally avoided because of their Microsoft-specific solutions) has announced that it will immediately start selling part of its catalog as DRM-free MP3 files. The site's unprotected catalog, which includes artists such as The Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan, will initially feature only 50,000 of its 1.3 million tracks, but their number will grow weekly. The Globe and Mail says the move will likely profit Puretracks because its DRM-free-music will be playable on iPods. It quotes one industry watcher saying 'We're seeing the death of DRM.'" Essentially Puretracks is relaxing the major-label mandated DRM rules that it had initially applied to all labels, even the indies that wanted no part of DRM.
...as the from the apple-could-do-this dept. statement opines, but only for the artists and/or labels with direct legal standing to make such a request with Apple. Hint: it's not anywhere near the number people think it is. Even some artists who sell or provide DRM-free music via other channels may not actually have such a (legal) capability with Apple, for example, because their label's contract with Apple (or other stipulations) doesn't currently allow it.
And while we're at it, let's fix the title of this submission:
Puretracks drops DRM from less than 4% of its tracks; even less when you consider well known commercial artists on major labels; changes format and delivery mechanism for such songs
Let's face it: like it or not, that's important.
I do agree that Apple should aggressively work toward this, and they should absolutely drop the "all-or-nothing" mentality with DRM on the iTunes store, because dropping all DRM at once won't work. They definitely need to start somewhere, even if it's with relatively unknown artists and/or labels. Consider, too, that some of Apple's existing contracts may have stipulations that all other music sold on the same store or via the same mechanisms have the same protections.
The article notes:
Essentially Puretracks is relaxing the major-label mandated DRM rules that it had initially applied to all labels, even the indies that wanted no part of DRM.
What if Apple isn't currently in a legal, technical, business, and/or support position to do that? What if it is, in fact, planning to do just that, but can't move quite as quickly as people seem to think it should be able to. This isn't a "2-3 day" operation as some people think it should be. It may be months before any fruits of this are seen on the iTunes Store.
Consider further that Apple may not want to sell, e.g., MP3 format specifically, for a variety of reasons. If a label (like EMI, which is talking to everyone BUT Apple about its possible no-DRM experiment - perhaps some ulterior motives of their own?), specifically wants "unprotected MP3", what if Apple's format of choice is "unprotected AAC"? Should Apple start selling multiple formats as well as multiple protection levels? How much of the years-proven consistency of operation and ease of use should Apple sacrifice on the iTunes Store?
There are a lot of unknowns here that don't automatically mean that Apple "doesn't really want to drop DRM."[1] Yes, actions speak louder than words, but Jobs' landmark statement on DRM, concisely shredding any arguments in favor of DRM, is, in fact, a pretty big action in itself. But Apple has a lot invested in the iTunes Store ecosystem, and they're not going to make rash decisions, screw things up, break support models, confuse customers, or do anything that would cause them to lose one or more large commercial content providers.
So while other fringe and marginally known stores may be able to make moves in this direction, it's a delicate situation for Apple. Hopefully Jobs' strong words, which have already caused a firestorm of circling wagons among some pro-DRM entities, and other stores with the luxury of being able to move more quickly into experimental areas, will push the balance toward "no-DRM". Regardless of what the bloggers and pundits think, who instantly came out with all of these "Apple doesn't really want to get rid of DRM" arguments believing this was a carefully crafted PR play, Jobs' DRM statement is the strongest stance from anyone at such a high level in music and media, and that's exactly what it will take to move the industry forward.
[1] Also, Apple doesn't use "DRM" or trusted computing/TPM on Mac OS X, in any way. The restriction is a manifestly a licensing one, and any technical difficulties of running Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware are incidental (even if intended to make it non-trivial).
I wonder if this is just a variation on a theme we've seen before:
1. Drop DRM on a bunch of music that nobody cares about
2. Collect sales figures for 6 months
3. Issue a report saying that sales did not increase for non-DRM'd music - "See, removing DRM doesn't make people want to buy more music!"
Insisting on "correct" English is like saying that there is only one, definitive recipe for chili.
I was a very early adopter of MP3s. I converted much of my collection in the mid to late 90s when conversion took place at 0.5x real time on standard home PC. That said, I have never bought one track online. Why? DRM. Funny thing is, I hardly buy CDs anymore either.
DRM-free music may actually motivate me to get excited about buying music again. It may also, however, hasten the death of CD-based commercial music sales. Ability to rip from a CD and yield DRM-free content seems to be one of the few remaining advantages of this format. Why the heck would I drop $14.99 for a CD now if I can just grab the one or two tracks that I like for a fraction of that price? Sure, I may not discover deep tracks that do not enjoy radio play, but this still does sound like a major advantage to me. How many of us have CDs that seem like a collection of marginal tracks surrounding the one or two that we actually like?
Boing Boing debunks this story. In brief: stay the hell away.
sulli
RTFJ.
This article is completely wrong. This store actually uses standard Windows PlaysForSure DRM on all it's tracks. The friggin' PlaysForSure logo is on their homepage. http://www.puretracks.com/
do you know squarepusher?
It looks like some users over at BoingBoing have already debunked this one Link. According to them, all the track on the site, including the supposedly "DRM Free" are Windows crippled WMA.
Either they aren't doing this "immediately" or someone screwed up. I can't find a single BNL song that is available in anything other than WMA from Puretracks.
Sig
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars
http://www.puretracks.com/content/viewer_page.aspx ?cid=UserDetection_MacOSNotAllowed
When I bought my wife her Sony Network Walkman she decided to try Puretracks so that she could get digital music legally. After a week and the realization that "we won't let you copy the songs *you bought* off your computer", she dropped them like a hot rock.
"I'd rather get my music illegally, and have them work on my MP3 player," she said.
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
Is this what's meant by "immediately" ???
FTFWS:
http://www.puretracks.com/res/img/macsplash.gif
Ah, you're on a Mac. Here's the thing about that.
Thanks for visiting.
Our current music sotre uses Windows Media technology to play our music files. Unfortunately that means our songs are incompatible with your operating system. Furthermore, Aple's iTunes FairPlay system is currently not available to us for use with iPods.
We'd love to offer our music to Mac users, and we are currently working to offer content in new formats.
Ah, comme ça vous êtes sur Mac. Sauf que...
Merci de votre visite.
Notre magasin de musique utilise présentement la technologie Windows Media pour jouer nos fichiers musicaux. Malheureusement, cela signifie [sic] que nos fichiers musicaux sont incompatibles avec votre système d'exploitation. De plus, le système iTunes FairPlay de Apple [sic] ne nous est présentement pas [sic] disponible pour fins d'utilisation avec des [sic] iPods.
Nous aimerions offrir notre musique aux utilisateurs [des] Mac[s], et nous sommes en train de travailler sur la possibilité d'offrir notre nouveau contenu sous de nouveaux formats.
Even if 90% of their music was DRM free, if I don't find out until I get to the song in question, it's going to be a very aggravating browsing and shopping experience. Imagine finding a song you want to here, only to discover you can't use it. Unless they offer a way to filter out the stuff I can't use, why should I waste my time looking through their stuff? It would be bad enough if it was mostly DRM-free - but given that it's mostly stuff I can't listen to, why would I waste my time?
It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
Otherwise you will be condsidered a hypocrit and ignored.
EMusic has been around for years. Everything on the site is MP3.
They don't seem to be having any business difficulties. And for the record, I've been a subscriber for years.
I still only buy used CDs, they are cheaper and still let me make DRM free MP3s.
I often have trouble remembering which way is out of bed in the morning.
Why on earth should I buy from Puretracks when I already buy from other sites that offer DRM-free downloads (emusic and dgmlive mostly) and physical CD's for things not available DRM-free.
That makes me a hypocrite because I am not buying from one specific store? Do I have to buy milk at every store in town to prove I believe in a free market?
They are not the first: Emusic was first to sell (mostly) indy music in a large-scale DRM-free way.
there are a lot of other online stores that not only sell non-drm, music they also provide oggs, flacs, ability to re-download...
:)
actually, one of them - magnatune - was recently integrated in amarok.
after that, there have been several interested parties in such integration, all of them providing unencumbered tracks in free formats.
an amarok developer is working on a generic music store interface, so it should be even easier to purchase such music and increase music available.
of course, this unified interface is still some time away, but until that everybody can go to magnatune or any other shop that is not only selling non-drm stuff, but also providing it in open an high-quality formats
Rich
The RIAA specifically does not exist in Canada. That's a U.S.-only cartel for American-based record labels. In Canada, there's the CRIA, which is made up of the Canadian branches of those major labels, plus whatever Canadian-based indies have decided to join. So it's basically the same thing, but specific to each country.
This poo is cold.
The easiest way to become a leader is to find out which way the crowd is going and jump in front.
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Judge: Son, why did you steal this Ferrari?
Me: I think Ferraris are too expensive.
Judge: Ah, case dismissed.
Will AllOfMp3.com do? No DRM, bitrate and format of my choosing, lots of metadata and a huge selection. What's that? The RIAA isn't getting money from any sales there? Oh, it's because of their own thuggishness and refusal to accept payments because by doing so, they'd be agreeing to the compulsory licensing and definition of broadcast media according to Russian Law? Well, that sounds like it's their own damn fault. Weird that the Russians would manage to put together such an amazing business model and service while the major American corporations can't get beyond the starting gate. Oh well, off to go listen to the Sigue Sigue Sputnick greatest hits album I just downloaded from there. All I have to do now is decide which device I want to listen to it on.. My iPod? My iRiver U10? My TiVO's music streaming tool? Maybe my mac laptop or my windows system down in the basement. I guess that's up to me.
Ah, another enlightened analogy between real property and intellectual property.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
...and not only that, available only to canucs? Seems to limit who can claim to be honoring a promise to support non-DRM'ed content. Yep, this is really going to make a splash in the music world.
What's the point, other than some site smaller than Balmer's nuts trying to gain more exposure...?
The Canadian one, available only to people in Canada, sells WMAs and the new MP3s. The US one (which everyone else outside Canada gets, because I'm in Spain) sells only WMAs.
If you see a Mac error page it makes sense because you're not in Canada and can only download WMAs.
If you checked the links to MP3s that posters have given and you get told you're being sent to the US shop, now you know why.
Finally, it might be useful to bear in mind that the world doesn't revolve around the US. Not completely, anyway.
After reading a lot of people from the USA claiming this was bullshit and making a big fuss about it (something you do a lot of) I went to the site myself, and sure enough, there's PLENTY of albums available in MP3 format.
= GlobalNav_MP3.
I live in Canada and we're seeing the links. I suspect that since the RIAA rules your dominion, you guys are stuck living in a DRM world for Puretracks but for Canadians, we're finally seeing some MP3's on this site.
You guys gotta stop flaming other people and claiming the story is bullshit until you do a little research. Just because you live in the US doesn't mean that you can get to it. It's the same thing that pisses me off about American websites that advertise the ability to stream TV shows but the moment I try it, no luck because I live in Canada.
BTW, since I have bought stuff from Puretracks in the past, I received an email from them just prior to reading the post on Slashdot. Here's a copy of the letter.
----
Thank you for being a Puretracks customer. We are very excited to announce that as of today Puretracks will be offering MP3 files for sale on our site at Puretracks.com: http://www.puretracks.com/content/viewer.aspx?cid
And as the first North American digital service provider to launch 'a la carte' MP3 music downloads, we're happy to offer you a free MP3 track from the popular Canadian band The Barenaked Ladies.
The track, called 'The Sound of Your Voice,' will be delivered along with the February 27th Puretracks newsletter. You will need to be a registered newsletter subscriber to be eligible to download this track.
If you don't currently receive our newsletter (filled with weekly free tracks and exclusive content), click here to register.
MP3s at Puretracks
MP3 tracks are easy to download (no licenses required) and can be played on all digital audio devices. Puretracks currently offers over 50,000 tracks in French and English from popular artists such as: Sarah McLachlan, Broken Social Scene, Feist, The Barenaked Ladies, Jean Leloup and Richard Seguin. Track prices starting at $ 0.79 each.
Be sure to register now for the Puretracks newsletter to get your free MP3 track from The Barenaked Ladies! Click here to register. If you are already registered, watch for your February 27th Puretracks newsletter to get your free track.
Regards,
Alistair Mitchell,
CEO
No matter how fast computers get, you'll always be waiting - Matt Klem
No no no. You mean "Warner Executive".
WE: Son why did you copy all these songs we didn't buy?
Son: I wanted them dad.
WE: Well son, you need to apologize and get rid of them and we'll call things square even tho we are suing dead people, people that don't own computers, and computer novices every day. It's an important lesson son- the rules don't apply to you because your in a "better" class of people.
Son: Ah dad, I get it! (Goes off to secretly download songs but now nows to do it more discretely).
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
I just did! I bought my first mp3 album online! (Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Men)
It was less than $8 bucks Canadian and sounds great. And I can put it only any mp3 player I want legally and without any worries about compatibility!
Because the music I have downloaded is copyrighted, and I don't believe in music piracy.
...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
Nobody, ever, is going to get me to pay. I have all I want for free today and I believe it is my right to always have it that way. If some people pay, they are fools or do not know the same places to get free stuff that i do.
And it is the artist's right to not produce the music you believe you have the right too. How will you feel if there isn't any new music being produced by full-time musical artists because they have to take other full time jobs to pay the bills?
I don't believe in DRM, and I think the whole idea of a "product" breaks down when you try to sell digital content. However, I don't think people should believe it's their right to have things for free.
The fact is the major music corporations are simply trying to make as much money as possible, and trying to find more ways of doing that. If they had it their way, they'd charge you everytime you sang in the shower. I think the ultimate solution to the DRM debate will be to have some kind of subscription service where you pay a flat monthly fee and get unlimited (or limited, however they want to work the price points) downloading of mp3's or other content. These would be DRM-free files. Will some people redistribute them to their friends? Probably. My friends had "burn parties" where we'd bring our collection of cd's and a pack of cd-r's to share. Before cd's we did this with cassette tapes. Music sharing has been around as long as there has been music, it's just that with today's technology its a lot easier to do.
I'm wondering when the RIAA will start to realize that their music has been being copied well before the mp3. And I'm also wondering when they will realize that the reason people don't buy as many cd's anymore is because no one wants the over-produced generic crap they call music.
I got nothin'
I assume you mean, "Even more strained analogy"
If I copied everything about the Ferrari except the actual emblem, that would be okay, because it's legal to reverse engineer engines and shocks and transmissions...Just not software. and if I copied the emblem, it still wouldn't be a copyright issue. It'd be a trademark violation.
Downloading music isn't theft. It's not a trademark violation. It's not a patent infringement. It's copyright violation. Very simple.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Though puretracks may have just dropped DRM, they're not the only company in Canada to offer that. Another company called Zunior (zunior.com) is doing the same but they take it a step further and offer downloads in FLAC format. They also include album images and such in the download. That's the way to do it. I wish every company would treat their music downloads this way. People have high-speed connections now, why not offer high-quality audio? I don't want to pay $8-10 for MP3s when I can get the CD for nearly the same price but I'll pay it for a guarantee of high audio quality and liner notes, with the ease of an immediate download.
I'm in Canada, and I get the Mac error page.
Bít, zabít, jen proto, ze su liska!
What "charges"? Theft? Nothing was stolen. Trademark? If the guy made it himself and didn't sell it, no. So what?
Just say no to car analogies.
Nope. Historically, they have used third-party payment processors who have been well-regarded and trusted. I've spent probably $150 there and never had a weird charge or problem.
First of all, the CEO of eMusic during the Napster Hearings was Gene Hoffman, and yes, he did agree with the court ordered injuction against Napster. Before he made that statement, he asked Napster to remove eMusic files from their index. He also asked that users who shared the songs be unbanned from Napster. Frankly, if I were selling unprotected music, I wouldn't call it "short-sighted" to ask another company not to let people give it away.
But eMusic wasn't just his company. Hoffman cofounded the company with Bob Kohn. Before that, both of them served on the board for Pretty Good Privacy. I know. Total "asshats".
Either way, the current CEO is David Pakman who has been speaking out against DRM since long before Steve Jobs did.
While I agree with boycotting companies for their beliefs and behavior (I don't buy major label music or anything Sony), I have to call bullshit in this case. eMusic provides distribution for many small record labels in a way that lets their users play the music whenever, and on whatever digital music player they want. They are priced fairly (I pay ~ $.18 a song). They have a good business model, and they're legal.
I'm sure it is possible to rationalize not paying for music no matter how it is provided to you. And if the option to obtain it for free exists, you certainly can take advantage of it. But criticizing a good company in a public forum based on outdated information to justify your refusal to pay for music only makes you look like an asshat.
While I agree with most of your post, I have to nitpick on one point :
"The point of copyright is that the creators of intellectual property should be the ones who decide how their work is distributed."
This statement actually hurt me to read. The point of copyright is not to control the distribution of media, the point of copyright is to compensate the producer for their work - thus giving a monetary reason for them to continue producing something we as a society find beneficial. The arts aren't required for human life like food and water is, however, as a society we have created things like copyright to help promote something that we find valuable.
This debate should not be about if copying for free is right or wrong, it should be about compensating the artist for their hard work. Piracy doesn't do that, but honestly the majority of labels don't much either... it's obviously time we rethought our strategy altogether.
http://www.werkshop.com/. I just wrote about this today: DRM and legal music in Canada
Yeah, but apparently they attempt (with some success) to check if your are in Canada, and dont sell MP3 if they think you are in the US. The labels arent going to pay much attention, really, until its available at least in the US and/or Worldwide.
"We apologize, but www.puretracks.com is only available to Canadian residents"