Much has been said about Phil Schiller's keynote address at Macworld on Tuesday, where he announced that Apple has finally struck deals with all the major music labels, making songs sold via the iTunes Store free of digital rights management.
The crowd in attendance cheered joyfully when it heard the news, and millions of people across the globe were excited to finally know that all that crazy Apple copyright protection was finally behind them. Even Apple was excited to announce it, and the new pricing model--$0.69 and $1.29, depending on the song--seems to suit its fancy.
For years, we've been hearing about Apple's desire to make iTunes DRM-free. Steve Jobs even wrote a letter detailing his belief that DRM is bad for all of us--record labels included. And now, after years of waiting, Jobs and his minions have finally achieved their goal of eliminating it.
Does that necessarily mean that it's good for Apple, though? I don't think there's a simple answer.
... Read moreA new report suggests that Apple and three of the "Big Four" record labels are in talks to bring DRM-free tracks to iTunes, and once and for all do away with copy protection on the world's largest music store.
I applaud the companies for finally coming together and trying to remove draconian policies while adapting to our changing times, but this news even surprises me a bit.
To me, the bigger news here is not that Apple is trying to bring DRM-free tracks to iTunes--it needs to, thanks to Amazon.com's DRM-free store--but rather that iTunes is an unbridled success, even though DRM abounds on the service.
Any tech lover will tell you that buying songs from Amazon is preferred. After all, why would anyone want to support DRM? And although demographic data isn't readily available, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say Amazon's customers have a heavy population of individuals that are knowledgeable about tech and realize that buying copy-protected tracks only hurts us over the long term.
iTunes customers are entirely different, though. Unlike Amazon customers, I think the majority of iTunes customers are mainstream consumers that don't possess strong tech knowledge, and they're more concerned about convenience and impulse than doing what's best for consumers. After all, if they really cared about what the Recording Industry Association of America is doing to us (and the artists, by the way), they wouldn't buy songs from iTunes, would they?
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Stop complaining about DRM. Please.
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Quite a bit happened Tuesday at T-Mobile's conference introducing the G1, the world's first Android-based phone. Sure, it offers GPS, apps, and an open platform to make every iPhone lover cringe, but one major announcement that many have glossed over is the inclusion of Amazon.com's DRM-free MP3 store pre-loaded on each Android phone.
On October 22, thousands of people will be introduced to DRM-free music and Amazon's store. Many of those people won't know the value of owning DRM-free songs and others may wonder what Amazon's MP3 store is. But once they find out for themselves by downloading songs onto their G1, you can bet that they'll never look back at iTunes again.
Why? It's simple really: iTunes is a locked-down service that will only let you play your songs on Apple devices. Quite the contrary, Amazon's DRM-free store will let you download songs online or now, on the G1, and let you take that song to any other device you wish. Want to add it to your iTunes library? Go for it. Want to put it on your Zune? What are you waiting for?
Sure, we've known about this for quite some time--the store already has 6 million songs, you know--but there is a huge base of people who have used iTunes for so long that they don't even know what's out there. Some may not want to switch and will continue using iTunes, but now that Amazon's store is slowly gaining some of the limelight, Apple should start paying more attention to Amazon's offering.
... Read moreIn this episode, I make the case for DRM-free music and engage in some shameless self-promotion of my podcast.
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As we slowly bid adieu to 2007, I'm looking forward to 2008 and what will welcome us in the new year. And while none of us actually know what to expect, the future looks bright for this industry.
Think about it: who would have thought that Facebook would become such a powerhouse, the iPhone would take the world by storm and Dell would have dropped so significantly in just one year?
But in the fast-paced world of technology, we've learned that just about anything can happen and the leaders of today may not necessarily be the leaders of tomorrow. After all, is there any guarantee that Microsoft will still hold on to its dominating position or the iPod will still be the top dog in the PMP business? Not a chance.
But as I look forward to 2008, I truly believe there are some things we can accurately predict for next year. Whether it's the diminished popularity of the Wii or Google's meteoric rise in the cell phone business, the future looks bright and we should get ready to enjoy the ride.
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