What A Wonderful World

Soundtrack: “Misirlou” by Dick Dale

Last week Steve Jobs posted an essay about the world of digital music on the Apple web site. In it he says the following: “Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music."

The sounds of rejoicing would never cease if such a world existed. Think about it. The iTunes Store has been wildly successful, but people still don't like the FairPlay Digital Rights Management (DRM) software that restricts how a file is played. All digital music files acquired from the iTunes Store have the DRM, and people can authorize up to five computers to play that file on, but only iPods can play those files. That means that people who own an MP3 player made by another company such as Creative, Sony, or another manufacturer are out of luck if they want to listen to music they’ve bought from the iTunes Store. And people are already taking notice. Apple is facing an anti-trust lawsuit here in the United States, and last mothe a court in Norway ruled that the FairPlay DRM is illegal.

As Steve Jobs said in his essay, he would love to be able to sell DRM-free music on the iTunes Store. I am sure Microsoft would love to as well, and Yahoo, and... well, just about every major digital music store that sells music licensed by the Big Four. So who is this Big Four that Steve Jobs speaks about? The Big Four are the four major media companies that own most of the record labels in the world: Sony BMG, Warner Entertainment, Universal Entertainment, and EMI. They, along with the RIAA, are responsible for things like DRMs and anti-piracy software and other nonsense that makes life for the average consumer harder than it needs to be. Remember the fiasco with Sony BMG’s copy protection software? Or their payola settlement? Yeah, I do too. As compact disc sales drop the huge media conglomerates are scrambling to try to find a way to stop losing money. The problem is the money-grubbing executives running these companies. As we saw with Sony BMG, they will do anything to try to make a buck, including illegal activity.

So what is the solution? Either regulate the industry (a though that makes me want to throw up), or stop buying from these assholes. I like the second idea a lot, which is why I go out of my way to give my money to the independent labels like Abacus, Stones Throw, and Rykodisc. Once the majors figure out the money is not in the manufacture of CDs, they will instead put their resources into distribution. Most of the independent labels in the US have distro deals with a major label, so it works out for everyone. Until the independents become the majors, and then all of this bullshit starts over again.

It all comes down to this: if the Big Four want to survive in this new digital world, they need to adapt. And they are going to have to make some initial sacrifices in order to adapt. If they hold on to this DRM thing, they are going to piss enough people off that they will eventually fall. It would behoove them to license music without the ridiculous DRM requirement if they want to start making more money. It would also behoove them to ditch RIAA, although I don't believe that will happen any time soon. No matter what happens, they need to realize that the old way of doing things will no longer work, and it is time to look ahead. There is a reason why record labels like Trustkill and Victory are selling so many records, and it's not just the bands they sign.