This article on The Register is suggesting that both BMG and EMI (Germany, at least) plan on copy protecting all their music CDs from now on.
I’m furious at this news for three key reasons:
1) I can’t play the CDs back on my PC. Some copy protection systems ship with below par windows encoded sound files, but I didn’t purchase a CD for this. I want to be able to listen to music without the hassle.
2) I bought a NET MD a few months ago, made by Sony. The idea is that software that ships with the product allows me to copy my CDs onto MiniDisc, compressing the files down into varying levels of compression to get more music onto one disc. Sony, is of course at the forefront of the copy protection business, busily protecting many of its key releases. So I can’t listen to them on my Sony MD!
3) The way that most of these copy protection systems work is by using the built-in CD error correction system to their own ends. The CD standard has error correction which allows the seamless playing of CDs with small scratches and imperfections, without the listener hearing them. Copy protection systems mean that this error correction is reduced, and therefore the CDs are more susceptible to scratches than before.
I heartily support the Campaign for Digital Rights stance on this matter. The bottom line is that I refuse to buy CDs like this that I can’t listen to as I choose. And if I come across one, I’ll just have to return it to the retailer I bought it from. These CDs do not conform to the CD “red-book” standard, and therefore shouldnot have a “CD” logo on the case.
Piracy is certainly a concern for music publishers, but maybe they should look at some the sky-high prices they charge, which “disincentivise” purchase. I don’t begrudge artists and performers their royalties, but the prices they charge for a product that costs just a few pence to manufacture cannot be helping sales. And as for the massive increase in blank CD sales – well some are undoubtedly used for piracy, but there are a multitude of legitimate applications in these days of bloated file sizes and broadband.