This landed in today's Boston Globe:
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Quote:
Jobs asks music firms to end copy controls
Songs then would play on multiple devices, he says
By Bloomberg News | February 7, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs asked the four largest music companies to license songs for online distribution without copy protection software so music purchased online can be played across multiple devices.
The decision on whether to remove so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software to prevent copying of music files is up to Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Group Plc, Jobs said in an open letter posted yesterday on Apple's website.
Jobs said the companies, which together control rights to more than 70 percent of the world's music, required Apple to create a DRM system for its iTunes store as a condition to selling their music online. Songs purchased on iTunes only play on Apple's iPod device, while music bought from rival sites is tied to gadgets that work with their DRM systems, he said.
"When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied," Jobs said. "Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."
Shares of Cupertino, Calif. -based Apple rose 21 cents to $84.15.
ITunes, started in 2003, is the most popular legal site for music downloads and offers more than 4 million songs.
The plea from Jobs comes as iTunes faces criticism in Europe, with Norway last month calling the online store illegal because songs purchased from the service only work with the iPod.
Noting that much of the concern over rights management systems is in Europe, Jobs urged critics of such software to "redirect their energies" toward the four major record labels and persuade them to sell music that is DRM-free.
"Apple has very neatly deflected many of the DRM issues from themselves and is putting the burden and the blame on the record companies," Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with JupiterResearch in New York, said. "Mr. Jobs laid out a very cogent argument in terms of why there are DRM protections on their products and why there will continue to be DRM across the board until the record companies change their tune."
Removing digital rights management would boost online music sales and allow consumers to move songs among devices, Jobs said. Online music sales doubled to about $2 billion last year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in London said.
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What's so confusing? He said in his letter that there's three things that can happen with digital music:
- Nothing changes; music labels continue forcing DRM down the throats of the consumers;
- Every music store uses the same DRM (and, of course, Jobs would like it to be Apple's DRM software);
- Music labels give up the fight for DRM.
Since
jHymn stopped working after iTunes 6 was released, I've actually switched gears from mp3 to m4a to allow for some semblance of continuity between my iTunes-purchased music (m4p) and the music I've ripped myself. The problem is that my iTunes music is on one of the two hard drives I can't use right now thanks to my desktop shitting the bed, so, unless iTunes comes up with a way that I can download the music I've purchased and not have to go through miles of red tape for it, I'll be happy.
I feel that music sales would probably increase slightly if there wasn't any DRM. Every music store would basically be on a level playing field, so it would really come down to who has the best presentation and who has the best deals for music. I am hard pressed to believe that kind of market would ever exist, and I would be especially surprised if that is Jobs' ideal market. From a businessman point of view.
Jam it back in, in the dark.
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