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Microsoft Brings Back DRM
Barence writes "Microsoft yesterday unveiled its MSN Mobile Music service — and a surprise return to digital rights management (DRM). While companies such as Apple and Amazon have finally moved to music download services free of copy protection, MSN Mobile locks tracks to the mobile handset they are downloaded to. It also charges more than the other services per track, and offers no way to transfer your tracks to your new phone when you upgrade. The company's Head of Mobile UK spoke to PC Pro about the launch, but his answers are almost as baffling as the service itself. Best quote: Q: 'If I buy these songs on your service — and they're locked to my phone — what happens when I upgrade my phone in six months' time?' A: 'Well, I think you know the answer to that.'"
So many great quotes from a certain Hugh Griffiths, Head of Mobile at Microsoft UK:
We'll be looking to enhance the service if we get some interest from consumers
PR101: Don't tell journalists that no one cares about your product.
At the moment we don't have the functionality in-house to provide a mechanism for transferring between mobile phones and PC
CS101: Microsoft doesn't have the technology in-house to do a simple file transfer?
I didn't realise phones were churning that quickly in the marketplace these days
How clueless can you be? This guy almost makes me feel good about the other news of the day (Microsoft to laying off 5,000).
I suspect a Microsoft conspiracy to reassure their shareholders that indeed, getting rid of deadwood will not hurt business, on the contrary! He is a living proof (assuming he is one of the "chosen").
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FairSoftware.net -- where geeks are their own boss
Apple and Amazon have finally moved to music download services free of copy protection
I'm sorry, I was under the impression that Amazon's music service has always been DRM free. Could you please point me to a source showing that their service was ever under DRM? Did they offer a music service before Amazon MP3?
...
I don't know why everyone got excited when Apple went DRM-free, I've been buying DRM free MP3 singles from Amazon for over a year.
I don't think Microsoft is alone in their cling-to-DRM mentality. I think this will bomb but does it really even matter? It's just going to be another Zune/XBox bomb all over again offset by their other divisions so it's here to stay whether the market & investors say it should be or not. Oh well, if they want to lose money, let 'em. It does take more work for me to put my MP3s on my phone, maybe joe consumer won't put up with that and live with the DRM? We'll see after an upgrade though
My work here is dung.
"We're looking to gouge customers who are too stupid to look elsewhere."
I'm trying to think of something witty to put here but I can't stop laughing long enough to breathe. Almost everything I come up with starts with In Soviet Russia.....
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Lock-in has worked pretty well for Microsoft so far. They have no motivation to change strategies. They will have to suffer a near-death experience before they will actually pay attention to what the user wants and what the market is delivering.
This guy's answers are hilarious. They only make sense in a universe where everything is inherently locked down, and your customers are idiots to be abused.
You don't really have to provide a "mechanism" if you just left the system open. If the files were non-DRM and the phone had an open interface (e.g. you plug in a USB cable and can browse/transfer files on it), then the transferring step is trivial.
Which, again, would be trivially easy with an open system. If the phone were open, I could download a track from Amazon and put it on my phone. So the only reason to use the MSN service is "because of lock-in."
And in response to the question:
Wow. Just... wow. That's impressive market research on their part. They are not sure how long people keep their cellphones. And they see no issue with requiring digital files to expire whenever the hardware does.
This overpriced and highly restricted product has a clear future ahead...
I don't know why everyone got excited when Apple went DRM-free, I've been buying DRM free MP3 singles from Amazon for over a year.
Well since Apple was actually selling DRM free music from major labels with iTunes Plus even BEFORE the Amazon store opened, I agree with your surprise.
When EMI finally broke the stranglehold on DRM by agreeing to a DRM free iTunes presence, the other studios decided to try and break Apple by agreeing to all be in the Amazon store. It didn't really work out for them but eventually it worked out for the rest of us, in a way that companies like eMusic had not managed prior.
I don't think Microsoft is alone in their cling-to-DRM mentality.
The real question is, how much are labels still clinging to DRM? They are the only ones that really matter in the end. The agreement for all of them to sell DRM free music in more than one store was a watershed moment, but is this weird Microsoft arrangement something that had already been in the works or is it some new backsliding?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
This is why it contradicts itself. If [A] piracy is a problem (represents lost sales, etc.) and [B] DRM is the correct response to this problem, then it does not follow that a system using a rather strict form of DRM would charge more per track. If anything, this should make their prices cheaper, especially considering that the non-transferrability would cause some repeat purchases with no additional expenses incurred by the seller.
He is being unusually honest about this, although I don't think that's courage on his part but rather a reliance on the apathy of the average customer.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
Answer... We'll be looking to enhance the service if we get some interest from consumers
Real Answer... We've hurriedly acquired some third party that provides a service that we kind of want and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it's profitable and works.
Answer... At the moment we don't have the functionality in-house to provide a mechanism for transferring between mobile phones and PC
Real Answer... We've blindly bought this company on a me-too whim - I have no idea what they do, and we're kind of regretting it that customers haven't thrown a ticker tape party for us, people do that for Apple when they release something cool.. WHHHHHHYYYY can't they do that for us :-(
Answer... I didn't realise phones were churning that quickly in the marketplace these days
Real Answer... I'm used to working in a big corporation where my incompetence and lack of on-the-trigger knowledge is drowned out by the number of people who work there. It means I have no idea about the product, where it'll go, how it will perform or how it works. I've just been told by my director to "Go do something like Apple or Amazon and we'll sort it all out later" ...
There.. fixed it for you Mr Griffiths
Q: "i can't imagine MS would be THAT stupid to ignore such obvious common sense in the face of such steep competition. can they really be that out of touch? are they intentionally trying to fail?"
A: "Well, I think you know the answer to that."
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
I have very intelligent friends, usually over 30, that just have no idea about computers, and frankly don't care. It's as interesting to them as how their toaster works. They come to me with their computer issues and the phrase I hear often is, "I hate this. Technology is supposed to make life easier."
They're frustrated and rightfully so. Some will undoubtedly buy into crap like this, and not understand why they can't have their music anymore. They'll get frustrated, angry, or cry, and try silly things to put the music on their computer or new phones. Another phrase I hear often: "I was up half the night trying to get this to work."
The people who sell things like this are putting out a product they know to be inferior. They rationalize it with ideas like, "people have a choice" and "people may actually prefer this layout and never realize the drawbacks."
But in the end, my friends would have a bought a better product for less if this crap hadn't been around. And when they can't do what they thought they should be able to do, they don't know why, and they get very upset. Crap like this ruins the days of many, many people. It's avoidable and it's the fault of people who put plans like this into action.
They're screwing people over to make a buck, plain and simple.
Well, you are making the assumption that this arrogance does not exist in the higher ranks. I personally feel that Microsoft is occupied by too many people out of touch with reality.
I just had a two day meeting with a client who represents a large medical company.
A two day meeting to tell me how much of a hurry he's in.
Large companies seem to infect people with this sort of brain rot.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
You missed the most obvious explanation!
MS went to the labels and told them, hey, we want to sell mp3's to users. The labels responded sure, but you have to use DRM since you are so good at it (wink wink nudge nudge), besides we would otherwise have to charge you more (since users would actually be buying content instead of some limited rent). MS says, we don't think the users will like this DRM, but we will give it a try. So, they come up with the most incredibly stupid DRM business plan in history (after the gnomes' attempt to DRM underpants), to prove to the labels, once and for all, that DRM cannot work!!!!
Amazing huh?
I am not being funny here, if you look at the IQ bell curve, you will see that this scenario is more likely than the alternate of finding a guy with a 69 IQ to head an MS department!
Yes, I know they found one to head an entire nation a few years ago, but that does not improve the chances!
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS