Whither DRM?

[greatbearmd]

Finally.

It appears that Apple will be selling all music through the iTunes store without DRM. It's about freakin' time. While the FairPlay DRM scheme used by Apple was one of the more flexible out there as far as restrictions and the ability to use your music on a number of computers and iPods, it was still not without it's problems. Those who

Comments

[greatbearmd]

I should have quantified my statement. It is the same, but far easier and cheaper. But the same is true in the acquisition of music. iTunes and other services make buying tunes an instant gratification bliss right from the comforts of home. But there are also a lot of other factors at play in the decline of music sales. The big one is the economy. A lot of people are cutting back on spending, and things such as music are at the top of the list to cut. The decline of the CD has come about not just from piracy and legal downloads, but a big factor is the unwitting return of the 'single'. People have the option of legally (and illegally) obtaining the one track they like from the CD, leaving the rest. The emergence of the net has raised awareness of the actual value of music and how that is set by the industry. People wonder why the same money is essentially charged on a per-track basis for an album download and the physical product. That sort of thing leads to the dissolution of the perceived value of music. It also has allowed artists to connect directly with fans, and music is legitimately given away every day. Movies are often sold for less than the price of a CD, and a movie is almost always a far bigger initial investment than a music recording. Give the public an ever-present view of the disparate value of music and the overall perceived value will drop. The antics of the RIAA and some artists (Metallica a prime example) going ballistic on the fans create a backlash as well and a sense of anarchy. It's also tough to set a price (much less an actual value) to something ethereal as a 'file' and not a physical product. By finally giving people what they want, which is music sold at a fair price without some corporation dictating what they can do after the sale will help to increase sales of digital music. People are finding out that having lots of music without having a big rack of CDs is rather liberating. I'm old school, and like having the actual physical media and all it comes with. That is true interactivity. People craving that sort of interactivity are driving vinyl sales, which are increasing quite a bit lately too.

Music is priceless. Assigning it an actual value in the face of new technology has always been an issue. Even when Edison started spinning wax under the lights in his lab.