The Future of DRM
People have been saying that DRM is going to die for a long time. Steve Jobs went out on a limb last February and urged record companies to cease using the crippling technology. It’s been quite some time since then and the music industry is still relatively reluctant to comply with every end user’s request to ditch DRM. Apple’s DRM-free success has been minimal, only adding on EMI as a provider for DRM-free tracks, albeit with them costing more than DRM’d tracks. Amazon has recently been ahead of the game with their MP3 store, offering high-quality songs DRM-free music cheaply. However, after using Amazon MP3 for a while it is quickly apparent that not all record companies are on-board with Amazon’s plan.
So what are recording artists, fed up with the slivers of profit they receive from their greedy record labels, and consumers to do? Backlash. That’s what has been happening, to a degree, over the past week. Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Madonna - three recording artists that can’t be overlooked - have all left their record labels. It’s this kind of action that needs to serve as a wakeup call for the music industry.
On a sidenote, Radiohead’s latest album titled In Rainbows has an interesting price; whatever you want it to be. When you check out online, you literally enter in the price you wish to pay in pounds and pence. I really want for this to work. How amazing would it be if Radiohead reported good earnings? It would change things, that’s for sure.
Adding to the anti-DRM case, Yahoo!’s Ian Rogers made a great presentation that clearly exemplified why there needs to be a turning point away from DRM. At the highlight of his presentation he states he will no longer work for DRM music on Yahoo! Music.
I’m here to tell you today that I for one am no longer going to fall into this trap. If the licensing labels offer their content to Yahoo! put more barriers in front of the users, I’m not interested. Do what you feel you need to do for your business, I’ll be polite, say thank you, and decline to sign.
Finally, we are getting some traction. Let’s place bets - how long until DRM really is a thing of the past? 1 year? 3, 5, 10?
One small clarification - Radiohead’s contract with EMI ended in 2005 and they chose not to replace it. A small but pertinent point.
Much as I would like to believe DRM is heading out, I don’t actually think the music industry as a whole is bright enough, (or trusting enough), to actually do the decent thing and drop the system. The industry has been suspicious of new technology for years- as Mitch Benn once sang, “Home taping isn’t killing music; music’s dying of natural causes.”
As a sidenote, I think I am getting a Stamatiou addiction. I actually got all excited when it popped up with a new article in googlereader. I admit that I have been awake for almost 40 hours now, without a break- so maybe I am just in need of sleep.
I hope it’s sometime early next year. I’m glad big execs are speaking against DRM. It’s disrespectful to us as consumers.
I’m guessing it will start going really going away come early next year. I think most of the big labels are going to be extremely reluctant to let this go. Like it was quoted above me, music is dying of natural causes. With so many other avenues for entertainment on TV and the internet, music is going to become less popular. Amazon is doing the right thing with Amazon MP3 and I hope others follow suit. A name as big as Amazon is the perfect way to start the trend to DRM free music.
There’s clearly much fun to be had by some major artists breaking off relations with their respective labels, but it’s not something that the smaller artists are free to pursue — it’s all a question of having strong industry connections, and the little guys just don’t have that.
Even for Radiohead, there’s still a lot they can’t do as effectively as a label, and that’s promote themselves.
But this is to say nothing about DRM, which I don’t think has a major role to play in the media industry, in so far as the music labels and movie studios would probably like…
I couldn’t agree more with you, Paul. I want this to work, because IF i was a fan of Radiohead I would love to give them the money that I think their CD is worth. I want this to happen. I am being idealistic. Maybe in 2 years or so we look back to the years of DRM’d music, …. BUT as it is now, the music industry needs to learn a lot!
Are you only counting DRM in music or DRM period? If it’s the latter, I’d say 10 years if not longer. Look at the video game industry (Bioshock serves as a excellent example) or media technologies (ie. Vudu, etc.),
I bought In Rainbows on their site - there’s a real difference between paying the artist directly or paying the record company.
This felt 10x more satisfying than paying greedy record executives and hoping the band get a percentage.
To me, Radiohead’s initiative was the best thing that could happen in this industry. I only hope it will work for them because if it does, this is gonna be a major turning point.
I’m not a big fan of Radiohead nor NIN but if one of my favorite band do something like that I’d be happy to support them.
DRM will only be dead when you can purchase movies that are not protected, and DVDs, HD-DVDs, and Blu-Ray movies are constantly implementing new forms of DRM that prevent users from using the content they purchase the way they want to use it.
The music industry is showing signs of change, but the movie industry is strengthening their DRM fortifications. DRM will be around for a long, long time. That’s why I’m avoiding HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.
I paid 1 GBP for that Radiohead album. I’ve heard the first two songs, not bad so far.
I think Radiohead’s plan is excellent. They also are going to be receiving plenty of cash from ticket sales, so they should be financially solid. I personally still purchase CD’s, because there is not an alternative to getting a tangible disc that you can put onto your computer at whatever quality you choose.
Without DRM restrictions I could be persuaded into buying the majority of my music digitally, and it seems many agree with this view. I see DRM gone in 3 years or less.
I think it will be around for a lot longer than we hope/think/want/expect
Stammy,
I too hope this is a turning point in the music industry and I personally hope radiohead is at the forefront I love that band and the new album is really really good. I paid more for the album then I would have if I bought it on itunes as a way of showing my support and I’ve been surprised to hear just how much publicity they have from not being able to promote themselves as it suggested above. I don’t think promotion is necessarily a big if you’re doing something people feel really excited about and can get behind. I’ve seen so many bloggers, even people who don’t necessarily listen to radiohead writing about it because it’s something a lot of people want to see, which I think is awesome. Hopefully DRM will fall.
I don’t think Radiohead’s plan will work any better than Stephen King’s digital work. Can’t remember the title, but remember him having payment be ‘optional’ for the work and haven’t seen similar since.
Given the option, the majority of folks will pay far less than value for any given item. It’s the nature of society. Everyone wants a deal.