411 Music Special Report: Digital Rights Management Coming To An End?
Posted by Michael Melchor on 02.09.2007
Steve Jobs calls for abolishment; EMI may be the first to do so.
In an open letter titled "Thoughts on Music" published February 6 on Apple.com, Steve Jobs stated his (and, by proxy, Apple's) thoughts on the current landscape of digital music distribution and the role of DRM (Digital Rights Management) software that restricts how and where protected music is accessible.
In the pertinent bits of the open letter, Jobs calls for the abolishment of DRM completely, using the point that 90% of the music industry's sales come from CDs - a medium that, considering that they can be ripped and transfered anywhere, is DRM-free. Jobs summarizes, "So if the music companies are selling over 90 percent of their music DRM-free, what benefits do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system? There appear to be none."
Jobs' pledge that Apple would support a DRM-free world of digital music distribution may be an attempt to reposition Apple in a more neutral stance between the European nations that have deemed the current DRM system illegal and the RIAA and music labels that have vehemently insisted upon the necessity of DRM as the only bulwark against the supposedly rampant piracy that they insist is the cause of declining music sales in recent years.
Jobs' letter - along with talk that the one or more labels are on the verge of dropping DRM with a la carte downloads - has been running rampant in industry circles. Now, word comes from several sources that British recorded music giant EMI is about to lead the charge by offering paid downloads in an unprotected format - and soon.
EMI executives declined comment on the MP3 support issue other than to state that, in response to the Jobs letter, to release a statement that it has been experimenting with MP3 releases from Norah Jones, Lily Allen and Relient K. "The results, so far, have been very positive and the response from fans has been enthusiastic...The lack of interoperability between devices and platforms is increasingly becoming an issue for consumers and EMI has been engaging with its various partners to find a solution."
If EMI does adopt MP3 support, retailers say flipping the switch would not be hard. Merchants don't store files as DRM-protected tracks; the security layer is typically wrapped around songs at the point of purchase.
But whether it's EMI or another label that ultimately adopts MP3 or some other unprotected format, digital retailers say change is coming. "This is the beginning of the end [and] everyone is going to be better for it," says the head of one unnamed digital download merchant. "Its going to be one of those things where five years later you look back and say, 'God, that was such the right call. 'I can't believe it took so long.'"
