torrentfreak.com— The New York based intellectual property law attorney Bennett Lincoff shares this opinion and suggests a licensing system that would benefit both consumers and the music industry.
Feb 11, 2007View in Crawl 4
@smhillA. ...and that makes it ok because?B. The average user would never notice the difference between a DRM and non-DRM track. As far as the application and hardware is concerned there would be no difference. The only possible function is to make sure that all iTunes music is only playable on the iPod.You are really grasping with this one. As if unencumbered music would somehow make it more difficult to use...C. I agree with you on this. Apple has never actually come out and said it. It's just convenient for them, and they intentionally avoid the topic because of it.
Gorfle: Hmmm, Apples seems to be competing with free. Heck, even the record companies are competing with free. Most people have decent tap water, but the bottled water industry makes lots of money.
The article makes the basic assumption that without DRM, music cannot be sold online.That assumption is fundamentally flawed. eMusic sells non DRM music. Some bands sell non-DRM music (like Barenaked Ladies). They do just fine, there is not really a need to change a business model which continues to work.Now it might make sense to add other kinds of licensing such as the "right to digtially distribute", but that does not mean the industry must have one to move forward DRM free. They just need to learn that lots of people are plenty happy buying music when you make it easy to do so. Remember that every song sold today is competing against DRM-free versions of those same songs, so the fact that you get sales now means you would get sales even without DRM - it's not like people would steal it twice. It's already "stolen".
It all comes down to supply and demand. Evian is successful because people want clean water when they aren't home. If the RIAA wants us to stop using file sharing networks they need a supply chain that trumps it. Why would some kid wait to purchase the new Jay-Z album, when he can download it 3 weeks before it drops? How do we know what new music is being released this week? It isn't MTV or Billboard or Rolling Stone which are all pumped up with record company guided publicity. It's the top ten hottest downloads listing on oink. It's the indie music blogs. Even pitchfork is outdated. They need to be thinking ahead of the consumer. Complaining about DRM and royalties, all they are doing is crying about how the consumer is ruining their 40 year old business model. They don't want to admit that consumers are in full control of the situation. Consumers drive technology, and now we drive even more than that. We have taken control of the information they spend billions a year trying to manipulate. They need to appease US. What would attract me? iTunes on steroids. On my mobile. Over wifi to my iPod. Content overload. Bundled content like interviews/music vids/bonus tracks/etc.. Instant gratification. Not to mention the largest collaborated music catalogue in the world. And make it community driven for discussion/rating/critique. Because we decide what is good. Think past your marketing machine. It's being rendered more useless every day. How to pay for it? You think the Superbowl pays for itself? Advertising. Have a database that tracks everything. Use this digital transmission right. It's all data. So give me what I want, when I want it. Maybe then I'll think about spending more of my hard earned cash.
cbizFeb 12, 2007
If they want ME and millions of other consumers to buy MUSIC it will have to be DRM free!
eviltandemFeb 12, 2007
@smhillA. ...and that makes it ok because?B. The average user would never notice the difference between a DRM and non-DRM track. As far as the application and hardware is concerned there would be no difference. The only possible function is to make sure that all iTunes music is only playable on the iPod.You are really grasping with this one. As if unencumbered music would somehow make it more difficult to use...C. I agree with you on this. Apple has never actually come out and said it. It's just convenient for them, and they intentionally avoid the topic because of it.
mouskyFeb 12, 2007
Gorfle: Hmmm, Apples seems to be competing with free. Heck, even the record companies are competing with free. Most people have decent tap water, but the bottled water industry makes lots of money.
superkendallFeb 12, 2007
The article makes the basic assumption that without DRM, music cannot be sold online.That assumption is fundamentally flawed. eMusic sells non DRM music. Some bands sell non-DRM music (like Barenaked Ladies). They do just fine, there is not really a need to change a business model which continues to work.Now it might make sense to add other kinds of licensing such as the "right to digtially distribute", but that does not mean the industry must have one to move forward DRM free. They just need to learn that lots of people are plenty happy buying music when you make it easy to do so. Remember that every song sold today is competing against DRM-free versions of those same songs, so the fact that you get sales now means you would get sales even without DRM - it's not like people would steal it twice. It's already "stolen".
minimalisticsFeb 12, 2007
It all comes down to supply and demand. Evian is successful because people want clean water when they aren't home. If the RIAA wants us to stop using file sharing networks they need a supply chain that trumps it. Why would some kid wait to purchase the new Jay-Z album, when he can download it 3 weeks before it drops? How do we know what new music is being released this week? It isn't MTV or Billboard or Rolling Stone which are all pumped up with record company guided publicity. It's the top ten hottest downloads listing on oink. It's the indie music blogs. Even pitchfork is outdated. They need to be thinking ahead of the consumer. Complaining about DRM and royalties, all they are doing is crying about how the consumer is ruining their 40 year old business model. They don't want to admit that consumers are in full control of the situation. Consumers drive technology, and now we drive even more than that. We have taken control of the information they spend billions a year trying to manipulate. They need to appease US. What would attract me? iTunes on steroids. On my mobile. Over wifi to my iPod. Content overload. Bundled content like interviews/music vids/bonus tracks/etc.. Instant gratification. Not to mention the largest collaborated music catalogue in the world. And make it community driven for discussion/rating/critique. Because we decide what is good. Think past your marketing machine. It's being rendered more useless every day. How to pay for it? You think the Superbowl pays for itself? Advertising. Have a database that tracks everything. Use this digital transmission right. It's all data. So give me what I want, when I want it. Maybe then I'll think about spending more of my hard earned cash.
drstephanheimerFeb 13, 2007
@ jrbrewin"feel the need to vent the uninteresting opinions"much like your addition to this subject
jrbrewinFeb 13, 2007
try looking through some of the wonderful open letters linked at google's search of digg.com<a class="user" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=site%3Adigg.com+open+letter&meta=">http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=site%3Adigg.com+open+letter&meta=</a>and then try to say they're all important, insightly commentary.
cbizFeb 15, 2007
Because it is the right thing to do.