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The online music rip-off

Posted on 13 Aug 2008 at 15:53

In the US, Napster has joined Amazon in selling DRM-free content in MP3 format from all the major labels. Over here, online stores from Play.com and 7digital are already selling DRM-free content from EMI, while 7digital has also become the first European store to win Warner Bros' substantial catalogue DRM-free. The remaining major labels, Universal and Sony BMG, are widely expected to follow. With a UK version of Amazon's DRM-free store set to launch this year, and a rival effort from Tesco expected shortly, things are looking up. According to Simon Wheeler, chairman of the independent record industry body AIM's new media committee, DRM's demise is inevitable. The only thing holding it back is "the amount of time it's taking for the deals to be done, and probably the size of that up-front cheque".

Going DRM-free makes sense not just for consumers, but for the industry. Deutche Telekom says three out of four technical support calls its Musicload service had to deal with were the result of DRM. And when it offered a DRM-free option to artists they saw a 40% increase in sales.

That said, the future still isn't entirely DRM-free. "For rental, or subscription, or whatever the model is that develops, there needs to be some sort of DRM to track usage," said Wheeler. Dan Nash agrees. That's hardly unreasonable; you can't expect to copy tracks willy-nilly when they're being rented. What you can and should expect is that DRM won't get in the way of you doing what you've paid to do - enjoy the music you love.

Author: Stuart Andrews