We're two weeks into the new year and, as of yet, the major label system hasn't collapsed under the weight of overwhelming demand for DRM free mp3 distribution.
Pity, that. But we still have 50 weeks to go, and a pretty good collection of Mp3 positive signs. Here's a roundup of the Death to DRM press we've been reading.
"For the past 5 years, INgrooves has been distributing content from our independent clients to MP3 download stores because we, and our clients, know that DRM only frustrates the end consumer. If a music buyer wants to steal music they simply will, DRM or not."
"Under a new deal with SnoCap, ReverbNation.com users can now sell downloads through the site's DistroNow module. Under the arrangement, SNOCAP will handle the transaction with the consumer and the royalty payments to the digital rights holders."
So, don't worry Mp3. Just like mom told us in high-school; When you grow up, they'll all realize just how cool you've always been, and then they'll want to hang out with you, really. Now, who's mommy's carrot muffin cutie pie? That's right mp3.. you are.
Ever think that there's never been an industry group in the history of man with the sort of bulldog spirited anti-competitive mindset of the RIAA? Think again. Techdirt draws an interesting parallel between the RIAA of today, and French button makers of the 1700's. It seems tailors began making buttons out of dense cloth, which outraged the established button making industry, leading to the government imposition of strict fines on the cloth button makers, and some rather-paranoid tactics to ensure control of the market.
"Shortly after the matter of cloth weaving has been disposed of, the button makers guild raises a cry of outrage; the tailors are beginning to make buttons out of cloth, an unheard-of thing. The government, indignant that an innovation should threaten a settled industry, imposes a fine on the cloth-button makers. But the wardens of the button guild are not yet satisfied. They demand the right to search people's homes and wardrobes and fine and even arrest them on the streets if they are seen wearing these subversive goods."
Looks like the RIAA's play book is a little less updated than we thought.
It isn't digital music but, it's a perfect example of how DRM isn't an effective method of keeping your content from the hands of pirates. The first HD-DVD rip is available via Bittorrent, ending any and all speculation about whether the HD-DVD's DRM format has been successfully cracked.
Brad Linder of Download Squad writes, "The breakthrough came when members of the Doom9 Forum tracked down several unique memory keys that BackupHDDVD needs in order to decrypt HD-DVDs. Apparently the keys for King Kong and 12 Monkeys are also available, although Serenity appears to be the only movie to have made it online so far."
The point? Even the most advanced DRM available isn't effective against piracy and, if DRM isn't effective against piracy it serves as nothing more than a way to control the legal use of rightfully purchased media. Have the urge to build a better media player? You can't, unless you first pay royalties to the DRM licence-owners to legally decrypt the content stored within. Have an idea for a media player that makes those DRM license-owners a little nervous? (i.e. playing back your legally purchased content on a non-blessed Linux?) You won't be getting a license for love or money. It's just that simple.
Michael Hirchshorn of The Atlantic Monthly takes a look at Web 2.0 music services and while drawing lines though a connect the dots progression comes up with several gems of inference. The highlight of which is a comparison of Mp3 to DRM "protected" media that contrasts VHS and Betamax, "One next step could be a move by the labels to make more pay-per-download music available without restriction, meaning that once you've purchased a song, you can do anything you want with it, currently a no-go on Zune or iTunes. Unrestricted MP3 sites could play VHS to iTunes's Betamax. However it occurs, though, the execution of a widely used free and free-flowing music download and sharing system is surely imminent."
Coolfer was struck by the same quote, and asks not "if" but "when" this whole magical convergence of factors will result in the reiterated statement, "everything will eventually become available everywhere for a price that will approach zero" will become fact rather than lore. We're already on record as saying DRM will die, so where and when can we expect the fiery crash and burn which we all agree is inevitable? I wanna bring marshmallows and watch the flames.
The grapevine says some at CES are being told Microsoft will no longer develop PlaysForSure, its proprietary DRM system, a move Microsoft swore up and down it would never make when the company failed to include PlaysForSure support in the Zune line.
According to PC Pro News,"Microsoft will concentrate exclusively on its Zune platform, which is not compatible with PlaysForSure. Microsoft has neither confirmed or denied the reports, which draw on comments made by an executive for one unnamed music service and have been confirmed by others in the industry. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that he expects PlaysForSure to continue, although he has explained that Zune was conceived because the PlaysForSure approach had failed to dent Apple's dominance of digital music."
And just when Napster was starting to show new signs of traction. It's unclear yet what all this means for the many PlaysForSure partner companies but, the end of development could put them all in a very precarious place. This could be a good thing for some, as Real Networks and Sandisk seemed to see this coming a while ago, and have created a new, competing subscription-capable DRM format.
Bruce at Hypebot has been an an anti-DRM rampage in the new year. He's started contacting industry figures and asking them a few questions each about how they view the Mp3, and on the flipside of the coin, DRM.
His most recent victim target is Director of New Media for Beggar's/Matador Adam Farrell. Wanna know what Beggar's position is on Mp3 downloads? "At the end of the day, we support any steps that a DMS or device company or label might take to reduce friction in the market and improve the customer experience."
It's an avalanche waiting to happen. If nothing else, the labels are all exceptionally competitive. Once a few start mp3 distribution, opening themselves up to new possibilities online and (in my estimation) increasing their digital sales by sharp margins, the rest will be forced to follow. Frankly, I believe that for the most part, the labels know full well that DRM isn't working, only they've painted themselves into a rhetorical corner over the last few years and, no one ever wants to be the first one to eat crow.
What happens when P2P meets Pay-To-Play? Grooveshark, apparently. The just announced service will combine P2P distribution and Web 2.0 style crowdsourcing .
According to the press release, Grooveshark will function much like popular P2P file exchanges. Members will be able to offer their media library for sale through Grooveshark and discover and share new music with other members (only MP3 or OGG files without DRM). The difference: Grooveshark will broker music transactions by charging up to 99 cents for each song downloaded and use those proceeds to pay royalties to the copyright holders and reward members for community participation.
It remains to be seen how serious of a proposition GrooveShark will be. The selection will no doubt be limited by their decision to eschew DRM, but the concept itself is pretty sharp. We'll definitely be keeping an eye on Grooveshark as they work to launch their new baby.
We're stumbling in little baby steps towards the end of mainstream DRM. EMI announced that every single CD it sells from now on will be free of DRM, and thus open to personal format shifting, such as the world should be.
Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing writes, "I remember just a few years ago when an EMI customer-service rep sent an email to an irate customer promising that every CD in Europe would have DRM within a decade."
EMI seems to have wisened up quite a bit over the last year, dipping its toes in the DRM free waters of mp3 distribution and generally learning how not to be Universal Music Group. Kudos to EMI on a practical decision that more labels should be making. The other majors should pay attention, lest they find themselves playing catch-up to a hip new EMI by year's end.
"The CD as it stands is dead", that's what Alain Levy of EMI told a packed room at London School of Business in October (Lomax's article says different but, we checked). John Nova Lomax of Houston Press is taking the time to eulogize it, examine why it's dying and take a cursory look at where the format is heading.
Lomax writes, "Looking back over the past 45 years, it is now plain that the move from vinyl to CD was not the bold step forward we were told it would be. CDs were not scratch-proof (as the labels had us believe early on), nor was the sound an improvement on vinyl -- indeed, most audiophiles argue that their sound is inferior. Jewel cases were ridiculously brittle -- they were rendered useless by a drop of four feet or so -- and they were hard to open, as were the huge and idiotic long-boxes CDs were packaged in well into the 1990s. Their visual appeal was almost always minimal and yet they took up what now seems like a lot of shelf space."
The truth is the CD, due to its fragility, has become a disposable item. One hipster quips in Lomax's article that she treats her music burned to CD with the same dismissive regard as she would treat any disposable lighter. As a culture, we're plenty fed up with disposable items which are sold to us as a "semi-durable" good. We know we'll be back to replace it far to early, and we feel ripped off when we find ourselves back in line again, holding a package full of the same empty promises we bought last time.
This year will see ecosystem changing digital music milestones, if Robert X. Cringely's crystal ball is working properly. In his 2007 predictions Cringely writes, "No one DRM technology emerges as the winner and the RIAA begins to back off as it loses a few legal cases. Still, no Internet-only song wins a Grammy or is even recognized as existing." He also turns his six-shooter of prognostication on Apple's unibrow baby wanna-be, "Zune 2.0 appears, isn't brown, but still nobody buys it."
Cringely's predictions give us something to think about. I've already gone on record as saying DRM is deadmeat in 2007 and, I think he's certainly within reason to believe the RIAA will eventually tire of its endless stream of litigation. What I think the RIAA won't do is end one strategy without starting another, so look for signs of a new direction in "piracy management."
Let's face it, piracy isn't going to shrivel up and die, but will be managed like a chronic disease, rather than through a frantic hacking off of limbs.
As for the Zune, I don't think it matters. Zune 2.0 or not the only thing that will displace Apple as top dog in the digital music marketplace is the end of DRM for mainstream, major label music. The death of DRM would make major changes in the hardware ecosystem possible, as manufacturers compete for eardrums and eyeballs on a level playing field. Apple's DRM has the labels stuck in a very tight place, and there is every reason to believe that deep within the darkest layers of the RIAA's war room there is a sincere desire to break free from Apple's bonds.
As for an internet only song winning a Grammy, as long as the Recording Academy members are exclusively members of the "club", I think it's safe to say that the Grammy awards won't see any internet party crashers invited to the dance. That's just simple logic.
There are rumorsflyingthat one of the big four is set to release a significant portion of their catalog in DRM-free mp3 format, which means that somewhere in label-land, someone finally managed to get their medication all straightened out. The big question is, who?
Glenn Coolfer writes, "I don't know which label it will be, but I'd bet against it being from Universal Music Group. Doug Morris experiment with MP3? That would be a shocker." Coolfer is spot on; there isn't enough thread in the world to sew up the generation gap between Doug Morris' megalomania-cal psyche and where the music business is actually headed.
Digital Music News says, "Just which label will pull the trigger is unclear, though EMI has been in an experimental mood." My money is on EMI as well. As I wrote recently about EMI, "You're sassy, experimental and, frankly, my favorite of the major labels."
So, is this the start of the DRM free Amazon catalog we've been hearing about? It might be. Frankly, it's about time. DRM will never stop those who desire to pirate music, and does little else aside from frustrating legitimate customers.
Light on cash after the holidays but looking for new music anyway? Jamendo has a great solution. We've mentioned Jamendo before but, they've just hit another milestone on their way to free music dominance. Now, over 2000 albums and counting can be downloaded for free, legally (yes, legally.. ) from Jamendo's catalog.
The chart shows the meteoric rise of Jamendo over the last 2 years. They've also launched some new features since the last time we took a look, such as transparent artist donations and the ability to find music similar to that of any artist which make Jamendo a strong contender among a sea of Web 2.0 start-ups.
Congrats to Jamendo on busting through the two thousand album mark, keep up the great work guys! We've found a few great artists through Jamendo including Tryad, Revolution Void, Shex and Zeropage.
I've often mentioned Magantune as an example of an upstart company doing things the right way. This is another great example. A six minute video explaining how Magnatune works (non-exclusive contracts, 50/50 split with artists, etc) and showcasing just a few artists from Magnatune's stable.
Featuring interview segments with Artemis, DJ Markitos, Mija and Jan Hanford of Human Response, the six minute video touches on the differences between Magnatune and the majors, the diversity of music at Magnatune, and the fan to artist interaction that comes with a growing net-centric label.
Hear that rumbling sound? It's a giant boulder of DRM-less Mp3 goodness barreling down on the music industry like that scene in Raiders of The Lost Arc.
To kick off the year in fine mp3 positive fashion, Reuters reports on a string of news coming from all corners of the music biz. The two current "Biggies" are:
Former EMI exec Ted Cohen has been hired by a post-lawsuit Limewire to convince labels they can "start charging its 40 million users $1 per download and share the revenue and user-behavior information with the music industry." According to the article Limewire wants this to be a DRM-free experiment.
Amazon is pushing for a DRM free entry into the digital music market
Add to the equation the supporting evidence provided by eMusic's recent 100 Million track milestone and Mp3 experiments from EMI and Yahoo! Music and the only question remaining is; Will the RIAA member labels be able to deftly maneuver around this speeding boulder or, will it overtake them?
Ever think that there's never been an industry group in the history of man with the sort of bulldog spirited anti-competitive mindset of the RIAA? Think again. 
It isn't digital music but, it's a perfect example of how DRM isn't an effective method of keeping your content from the hands of pirates. 
Michael Hirchshorn of 
The grapevine says some at CES are being told Microsoft will no longer develop PlaysForSure, its proprietary DRM system, a move Microsoft swore up and down it would never make when the company failed to include PlaysForSure support in the Zune line. 
Bruce at 
What happens when P2P meets Pay-To-Play? Grooveshark, apparently. The just announced service will combine P2P distribution and Web 2.0 style crowdsourcing .
We're stumbling in little baby steps towards the end of mainstream DRM. EMI announced that every single CD it sells from now on will be free of DRM, and thus open to personal format shifting, such as the world should be. 
This year will see ecosystem changing digital music milestones, if Robert X. Cringely's crystal ball is working properly. In his 2007 predictions Cringely writes, "No one DRM technology emerges as the winner and the RIAA begins to back off as it loses a few legal cases. Still, no Internet-only song wins a Grammy or is even recognized as existing." He also turns his six-shooter of prognostication on Apple's unibrow baby wanna-be, "Zune 2.0 appears, isn't brown, but still nobody buys it."
Hear that rumbling sound? It's a giant boulder of DRM-less Mp3 goodness barreling down on the music industry like that scene in Raiders of The Lost Arc. 
