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Sony BMG Dropping DRM
Lally Singh writes "BusinessWeek is reporting that Sony BMG is planning on dropping DRM from their music. Salon's Machinest had an interesting take on this; 'Actually, what's happened is quite ironic. It was the industry's own DRM mandates that tied many music-lovers in to Apple's music storefront (we all had iPods, and the only way to buy digital music for the iPod was from Apple). Now Apple's become too powerful for the labels. They need an alternative distribution channel — they want to get music to our iPods, but they don't want to go through Apple to do it. The only way to do that is to offer retailers like Amazon the chance to sell songs as plain, unrestricted MP3s, which are iPoddable.'"
This should be a nice switch, I've already been purchasing from amazon's mp3 store and find the ergonomics, the quality, and price all to my liking. And, if I find something I really like I purchase the real deal, the CD. I for one welcome our former DRM overlords into the fold.
This only widens and expands the music industry's audience, it is the logical conclusion to a stupid experiment. I suspect there are other efforts in the works to try and keep a grip on their "property", but this is yet another death knell to the music industry as they (the execs, etc) know/knew it. Wait until some breakthrough artist figures out they no longer need to be beholden to the record labels for their livelihoods.
Now, if only we could see some of this sanity become contagious and spread into some of the other media. DRM is a pain and it's ineffective. Just 2 days ago I watched on DVD a movie still only in theater-release -- I won't say where (it wasn't at my house), and I won't say who (it wasn't someone I knew). I would never do this, but it's obvious DRM only makes life more difficult for the honest consumers. (Wasn't there an article recently here about someone's collection of media getting wrapped around the DRM axle because he bought a nice new monitor on which to watch his movies?)
Back when Sony was putting root-kits in it's music CDs I felt justified in pirating their music.
Now I just feel OK about it.
What does it mean, Apple's become too powerful, so Sony needs another distribution channel? Is Apple driving the prices up? Is Apple restricting Sony to only sell DRM'd music? Is Apple incapable of supporting non-DRM formats? Does Apple not reach sufficiently worldwide.
Like a guy who's murdered his parents pleading mercy as an orphan - Sony pleading innocence over where they're at with ecommerce of their music.
Pathological kinda promises Path + Logical - but instead, you get stuck with pathetic.
Apple convinced them to sell per-song downloads, then got so successful at it the big record labels had to abandon DRM to spite them.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
they could have built their own portals in 1999. they didn't. they filed lawsuits against soccer moms and college kids instead
apple came, gave college kids what they wanted many years later, and so the big publishers, by denying reality of the changing business they were in, effectively handed apple all of the power they previously had, and could have retained
they screwed themselves
no sympathy
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
This plainly shows what was obvious to those who wanted to look, that any monopoly Apple has on electronic music sales is because the record labels chose to give them one. Since they seem to be having second thoughts about that choice, they are looking at an alternative: selling straight mp3 downloads.
If Apple ever locked down the iTunes application so that users couldn't import mp3s, then we'd have a reason to whine. But, there would still be Sandisk and the rest, as well as places to buy music for them. Choices still! Imagine that.
Luke, help me take this mask off
This is THE company known for proprietary ways to do everything. Skies help them if they make an accidental mistake after their "intentional" ones.
And what's with the timing? "We didn't want to ( ?? ) to Christmas sales, so we saved this announcement for the day people got back from vacation / finished inventory."
P.s. Is there a rootkit in your skates?
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
I was hit by the Sony Trojan when my daughter played a BMG title she'd bought from the music store she worked at at the time (she manages a Gamestop now).
I'll never EVER buy a Sony ANYTHING again, and the only way I'll get a Sony-BMG CD is used. And the only way I'll download any BMG artist is from P2P "piracy". That God damned rootkit was a damned stupid move. Someone should have gone to prison for it. If I rooted their computers I'd be with Linda; well, actually not since Dwight is a maximum security women's prison, but I'd be behind bars.
And all she did was have some dope on her, she didn't hurt anyone, threaten anyone, or cost anyone any money.
If you own Sony stock, please do me a favor and sell it. Sony is EVIL in all capital letters.
-mcgrew
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Is anyone surprised at this? Let us examine the Sony portfolio of media...
Betamax - fucked themselves - now deal with VHS gear
Minidisc - fucked themselves - now deal with CDs
Memory Stick - fucking crap - everyone else deals with SD, waiting for them to realize they are fucking themselves
Blueray - nothing exciting - everyone is still basically on DVDs with no incentive to change
Now we can add
DRM digial music - fucked themselves - now drop DRM to sell more.
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
AllofMP.com has been pioneering the model all along.
It's funny, I went to Amazon the other day to see what was available for DRM-free download. Do you know what the answer was?
Nothing. For some strange reason, the service is only available to those in the US. The rest of us are still stuck in 2000 or something.
Still, at least the light bulb is starting to glow. Next, you'll be telling me I can buy legal DVDs that don't make me sit through several minutes of tedious anti-piracy drivel that doesn't even apply in my jurisdiction, just like all the illegal ones I could have bought more cheaply instead...
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
They want to protect their intellectual property, which is understandable (although I'm sure some slashdotters will argue this point). But I think fundamentally we're going to have to accept one of two mechanisms by which they can do that. The first is DRM, and the problem is that it undermines lots of legitimate (fair, free) uses of the content. The second is lawsuits for civil or criminal copyright infringement, which have significant statuatory damages.
So I'm happy that people are waking up to the problems with DRM, and that companies are realizing it too. But realistically this means that more enforcement burden will be on legal action, which tends to be economically burdensome on individuals, although it is more likely to produce a socially acceptable result (allowing certain cases of fair use).
--
Educational microcontroller kits for the digital generation.
What I don't understand is why the labels have such influence in the sales of music. Contrast it with retail sales and you will understand what I mean. In typical retail sales, the retailer purchases X items from a distributor or direct from the manufacturer and sells the for whatever they choose, allowing the retailer to compete and allowing the manufacturer sell the items for their desired profit margin, the only people who's profit margins are influenced by competition (of the same product) are the retailers.
In the online music world, the Label places all kinds of stipulations and requirements on the seller. Wouldn't they simply be better off selling X licenses for Y cents per license to as many online sellers as possible and let them duke it out over selling as many as possible. You would see Apple's, and many other sellers', profit margins drop as competition raged. Consumers would be buying at lower prices, which would increase overall sales, and advertising would increase as different sellers tried to attract new buyers.
Overall, a simple Manufacturer -> Distributor -> Seller -> Buyer structure where the manufacturer is hands-off on the sales end would probably make the most money for them. Even with piracy raging in the background, I guarantee that if I could pick up a bunch of music for $.25 per song (with $.24 going to the label), I'd be all over it. If the label want's more money for a newer track, simply sell it to the distributor/seller for a higher price and let them figure out how they want to move it.
I would imagine you would see 2 for 1 deals, free downloads, and all kinds of other schemes where sellers would take a loss on the low cost music to see higher profit margins on the higher cost tracks.
All I can say is... stop letting the labels set the retail prices, let competition and demand dictate the price. It's worked for almost every industry since the dawn of trade and there is a good reason, it makes everyone happy because they feel like they are getting a fair deal.
Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
The change of heart only happening after Christmas may have been because the holiday sales of CDs this year sucked, down 20%.
If you go to Nine Inch Nails website you'll find the results of an experiment they just ran through. They offered an album for free with the option to pay if you felt like it. To cut to the chase, 18% paid for it (at $5 a pop). That may sound like a poor result and it would have been if it was fifteen years ago. Today however, the game has changed, the music industry used to be based around the concept of scarcity. They had a physical product and the only method of distribution involved moving that product around. Today, information can be replicated for almost zero cost instantly world-wide. Scarcity as a assumption in the business model no longer applies. So if traditional media companies are to save themselves they need to radically change their mode of operation or go extinct. Without scarcity, the only other tangible benefit they have to offer is the experience itself. This means shifting where they expect to get the majority of their revenue away from what is no longer scarce - the music itself - to what is still in short supply: live concerts, t-shirts, mugs, unique (signed?) physical items and such. The music itself can almost be written completely off as a promotional expense to attract business to the items that for are still scarce. Information networks have completely changed the rules of the game in many areas and media companies are just the people to experience it first. If they lack the vision to capitalize on products and services that are still scarce then they will remain as relevant as the steam engine. And there's nothing they can do to stop it - no matter how much "protection" they place on their wares there is a whole new generation of artists growing up right now that don't really see a pressing need to sign with a big label in the first place so if the labels don't adapt and continue to offer something of value then, well, economics is a bitch.
Shh.
How is Apple being monopolistic? You can play straight MP3s on an IPod. As much as I think the Apple fanboys are pack of twits, the Apple anti-fanboys are every bit as stupid.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
So they either shaft the consumer with DRM, or shaft Apple by removing DRM. Granted the latter is friendlier to the consumer, but when will the labels put and end to shafting people and just give their customers what that want without ulterior motives? Probably when their shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.
In Soviet Russia, where the real hacking studs live, hackers soon will massively distribute DRM-ed versions of Sony's DRM-free music, just to show the world how much they hate the established music industry, irrespective of what it does.
In the US, some wannabe high-school hackers will briefly attempt the same, but will be sued into the ground by RIAA laywers intent on showing who still owns the copyrights to and patents on the DRM concept.
Linux user since early January 1992.
WTF? This isn't 1992; CD-ROM drives are ridiculously affordable, and even Macs aren't locked into Apple-brand drives. This guy is wacked if he thinks iTMS is the only place where someone can buy digital music that can be loaded onto an iPod. Even Sony has been selling it. For decades. Without any DRM.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
In context, I presume you mean pirating their work. Without getting into a moral argument, I do think you should consider the practical effects of your behavior.
We all know that labels screw artists and DRM is bad and blah blah blah, but what happens if your favorite action films cost $50 million to make, but suddenly all of the customers have "digital content wants to be free" philosophies?
Frankly, if nobody pays to see movies, no movies will get made - or at least, only cheap movies where the person making them can afford to eat the cost. No more magical Hollywood special effects. You're not going to see Lord of the Rings get produced under a Creative Commons license.
Even if the whole business isn't "respectable" by your standards, you obviously respect their work enough to watch it. To never pay is to vote for a world where that work is never produced.
Pathological kinda promises Path + Logical - but instead, you get stuck with pathetic.
Everybody talks as if Apple dies or thrives on Itunes sales.
WRONG!
Most analysts agree and Apple has all but confirmed they make almost NO money on the itunes store. Rather it's just a vehicle to sell more hardware (ipods, iphones, isomethings). Geeks like devices that have lots of options, and we like to crap on the ipod due lack of this or that feature. Normal non-geeks have been buying the ipod and associated devices due to other reasons other than for the the online itunes store. The idea if itunes goes away the ipod will vanish into oblivion is crazy. If Amazon gets bigger than itunes and Apple can still make a player that sells better than the others it's a win-win situation for them.
Amazon uses VBR with the average song being between 196 and 256kbps. At that quality an MP3 is indistinguishable from a CD even on high-end speakers. The only advantage of AAC is that it can achieve those rates with smaller file sizes. Since the vast majority of files sold by Apple are ony 128kbps with DRM, there's no contest here.
Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
The iTunes store already has DRM-free tracks available. It's called iTunes Plus and they're 256kb AAC tracks with no FairPlay restrictions. So far the only major taking advantage of this are EMI. Sony BMG could be using this right now if they so desired. Steve Jobs has said so.
What this is about is that Apple refuses to let the majors set the prices of the singles. One of the major selling points of the iTunes store since it began has been that the single tracks are 99. The majors want to charge more for popular tracks. Apple refused. A similar event already happened with NBC leaving iTunes over pricing control issues.
Sony BMC will come crawling back to the #3 distribution channel again once their own project fails. A quick Google reveals that Sony has an online store of their own called Sony Connect. Let's see... requires Windows and Internet Explorer. Well, looks like I'm out of luck...no thanks Sony.
I'm curious. What makes LAME "crappy"? I don't know about low-bitrates like 128kbit and lower but I've done alt-preset-extreme VBRs with it for years and those mp3s sound as good as anything else I've heard. Even with decent amps and speakers, they sound about as good as the CDs I made them from. I'll grant the filesize is a tad large but all the music I've been collecting for 18 odd years still fits under 20GB.
Unfortunately this has NOTHING do with those idiots at all. Not even remotely.
The MafIAA is funded in part by the record labels, but it does not specifically have anything to do with DRM being implemented by said record labels.
The MafIAA is only defending the copyrights owned by those labels from infringing use by the public at large. Just another TOOL (used by tools themselves. lol) that the labels use to beat us into submission. Getting rid of the DRM, just got rid of another tool that Sony could use to enforce their will on us all.
Sony did NOT have an epiphany after some hard soul searching and decide to stop deep dicking all of their customers with DRM. They made a business decision to protect shareholders interests. They certainly have not stopped funding the MafIAA and will continue to use them. Even if all of our music becomes DRM-less, the MafIAA will still come after those that are sharing it on Kazaa or some other type of P2P that has a shared folder in its implementation. That's how they found that guy, who famously, created the shitstorm surrounding the, "You can't RIP CDs" scandal.
I got some bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad news for you too. When the MafIAA DOES finally go away, it will ONLY be because they finally bribed enough US Senators to enact laws far more reaching and scary then the universally hated DMCA.
It's all profit driven remember? When they get their DRM transferred into actual LAWS that allow them to do what they want, why would they need to still spend money on the MafIAA? They will just refer infractions to the local district attorney.
What's scarier than the MafIAA? The Department of Intellectual Property Protections (DIPP). Invading your ISP's and personal machines to search for content. Guilty before proven innocent AND at risk of having your property seized and auctioned off.
This is a slow evolution to an inevitably terrible final solution. It's like watching Skynet becoming self-aware and launch the missiles, or abusing antibiotics till the superbug ravages the planet. Judgment Day is coming and it will have far more reaching effects on us all. When all is said and done we will WISH for the days of easily bypassed DRM, and happy days of P2P.
Can we stop them? Probably not. I have not seen a single instance in which the citizens have had their rights and interests win over the VERY WELL LOBBIED rights and interests of major corporations, the military industrial complex (it does exist outside of the X-Files), and Government control freaks.
I'm actually worried by this. What is up Sony's sleeves? I cannot possibly believe they had a real change of heart. They deliberately lost a battle, but how do they still plan to win the war?
Lets ALL remember these are the PEOPLE who brought us the ROOTKIT. People that dishonorable, unethical, and just pure EVIL.