|
Digital music industry finally faces reality |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Terry Lawson
|
|
Monday, 09 April 2007 |
|
|
|
|
When Apple Inc. called a news conference last week, reporters on the tech and music beats believed they knew what was coming: CEO and Beatles freak Steve Jobs was going to make the announcement expected more than three months ago, that the coveted Beatles catalog was going to be digitized and available on iTunes.
He didn't. Apparently Paul, Ringo, Olivia, Yoko and however any lawyers it takes to fill the Albert Hall have yet to come to terms on how the new Apple can be sliced. Instead, Jobs made an announcement that should prove a lot more momentous: The end of what the download and MP3 industries politely refer to as DRM — digital rights management.
For the download elite, this means nothing; they not only get the music they want free, they get it before it's released; as a computer-savvy pal of mine says, he has "friends in Central America."
But for the vast silent majority of casual consumers, it means that the restrictions of legal downloading — the ones that prevent them from playing the music they buy from iTunes on other players, like the increasingly popular Zune or the cheap iPod alternatives you can buy at Wal-Mart, or burning them onto discs for the car or home stereo — will be removed from all product released by EMI.
The company distributes the catalogs of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Garth Brooks and hundreds of other pop, R&B, classical and jazz artists.
EMI's best-known brand labels are the venerated Capitol, Virgin, classical colossus Angel and jazz legend Blue Note. It hasn't had much luck breaking new acts or selling new albums, even though it has been gifted with new artists like Lily Allen.
Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving after 40 years, and Bob Seger, who caught Capitol off guard by producing a million-seller, has put the company on notice.
Yet the EMI library is deep and invaluable, and the company has been convinced by Jobs and Apple that it will sell more songs by giving buyers freedom to use what they purchase in any manner they see fit. Does that mean EMI and the artists will lose royalties when the buyer makes duplicates? Sure it does — the same way an author and publisher lose when you loan a book to a friend.
More to the point is what Viacom, for example, refuses to acknowledge when it sues YouTube for violating copyright: You can't put toothpaste back in the tube.
It's only a matter of time before the other music companies follow suit, and if they stubbornly refuse, old fogies like me will learn how to make new friends in Central America. Think about it: We don't have to learn how to set the clocks on our VCRs anymore, because our TiVos and DVRs know what time it is.
___
Terry Lawson:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
| Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
