2008 really is proving to be the year that we finally lose DRM – in music at least! Earlier this week Sky announced that it had done a deal with Universal to be part of its forthcoming music subscription service. Seemingly, for a monthly fee, subscribers will be able to stream what they like and download a set number of DRM-free tracks. It’s an interesting proposition and I think that the really important part is the "DRM-free" part.
We’ve reached a point where consumers know that when they download music it’s not just going to be for their iPod. Their mobile also plays mp3s, as does their Xbox, their SatNav, their LCD picture frame, their PSP and of course their PC. In the same way that when I buy a CD, I know it’ll work in a number of devices and I can quite readily convert it into a format that works in more devices, consumers expect their music to work beyond their iPods.
It’s no accident that Play.com launched its music download service with mp3s, and Amazon’s forthcoming UK download service will also be mp3 based. eMusic has been around for a number of years solely offering mp3s, and Random House now allows mp3s of its audiobooks to be sold via various suppliers. Naxos offers its music and audiobooks as mp3s, as does Deutsche Gramaphone with its classical music offering. Even Apple has finally got on board offering a so far limited range of tracks in a DRM-free format.
It’s interesting that Universal has taken an equity stake in Sky’s new service. Sky will undoubtedly be looking to sign up the other major labels before launching, but the labels realise that they need to try different things and no end up beholden to Apple’s iTunes store where it sets the price and the rules.
The reality is that physical music sales are falling, and the shortfall is not so far being made up by digital downloads. iTunes maybe the biggest source of music in the US, overtaking Wallmart, but that’s not enough.
Where does this leave non-Apple, DRM’d tracks, and by that I mean the only real alternative DRM system – Windows Media? Not in a great shape to be honest. While there is a wide variety of music players available that support the WMA format, combined they make up only a fraction of mp3 player market share. These businesses to work hard and fast to turn themselves into DRM-free services. That’s all but impossible for those that offer unlimited download rentals while a monthly subscription fee is paid, but that’s only part of the market. Apple is always rumoured to be offering a similar service, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they launched a subscription scheme at some point in the near future with full downloads as part of that offering.
In the end, DRM really doesn’t work anyway. It simply works to infuriate people who’ve legitimately purchased music and then find themselves having to dig out weird and strange workarounds to get their music to play on the players they want to hear it. And it does nothing to stop piracy. Are kids still going to trading CDs packed with mp3s in the playground? You bet they are. Will torrent sites continue to exist full of new and old releases? Yes. The industry needs to work at other methods to stop that (Although it’s instructive that even Feargal Sharkey of the BPI admitted recently that he traded cassettes at school and recorded the top 40 off the radio. Somehow the CD equivalent is different).
One short coda: DRM can and still does work for movie and television downloads. There’s no real demand for the iTunes store to offer its video offerings on a DRM-free basis yet. But the keyword there is "yet."
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2 responses to “DRM Free”
Note that DRM-free does not exclusively associate with MP3. MP3 is just one of the many formats in which to encode a sound track.
The entire music catalogue from Naxos had been DRM-free since it started distributing its catalogue digitally in 2005. Given that its music is available on all the major online store plus its own, ClassicsOnline.com, including iTunes Store. Therefore, iTunes had been offering DRM-free tracks well before Steve Jobs publicly call for the major music labels to allow DRM-free music distribution.
The lack of complete DRM-free tracks on iTunes is not due to the reluctance of Apple to do so. It is the major labels who were holding Apple back.
The major labels does not want iTunes Store to become the advantage in the industry, as a result only EMI was willing to allow DRM-free tracks on iTunes Store.
The labels wanted to have time to build up the competitors of iTunes Store, so that Apple does not have the leverage in online audio distribution.
BTW: wanting your music played on the iPod does also does not mean proprietary audio formats. Ever since the introduction of iPod in 2005, ever iPod are capable of playing back MP3 tracks.
The promotion of Apple to have all audio tracks in AAC format is Apple’s constant support and early adoption of industry (MPEG) standards.
You’re absolutely right of course, and I try hard to remember not to equate DRM-free with mp3. mp3 files are not at the cutting edge of compression and DRM-free AAC files are of course preferable, if only to squeeze a few more albums onto my measily 8GB iPod.
I don’t truly believe that Apple has fought to have DRM-free tracks on its iTunes service. Yes, they’ve always let you burn tracks to CD to re-rip, but there are tracks from thousands of indie labels that could always have been sold happily DRM-free if Apple had so wanted to do so. The same tracks have been available from sites like eMusic in a non-DRMd format for years. Apple likes to simply do one thing where possible.
The major labels shot themselves in the foot a long time ago by not getting involved in their own online music store allowing them to set the agenda (and prices) rather than have Apple do it for them when it came along. Personally I like some choice which is why I look forward to Amazon’s entry into the UK market. I’d personally like to see a variety of codecs and bitrates offered for every track so I could choose what’s appropriate for me – something that only the legally questionable Russian sites have offered to date.