Within the last four years the music industry has been transformed.? A new medium of distribution is not a new concept; within the last 50 years listeners have purchased vinyl record albums, 8-Track tapes, cassettes, and CDs to get their tunes.?
Still, music downloads are a completely different ball game than the others, offering users the option to pick and choose the songs they want, allowing people to burn their own CDs, and put music on digital devices like iPods, all from the comfort of their own home, day or night. ?
More importantly, however, is the ability for people to transfer files to each other without paying for them, something that caused huge controversy at the turn of the millennium with Napster, KaZaA and several other file sharing networks.?
The music industry claimed that the illegal file sharing was costing them huge amounts of money in lost sales, and the users were breaking copyright laws.? Lawsuits sprung up against everyone from the makers of Napster to dear old grannies who let their 8-year-old grandkids use their computer and didn’t even know what a download was.
Still, the popularity and convenience of online downloads forced record companies to comply with listeners.? Instead of introducing a new type of digital media (like Sony tried to with their Mini-Disc) that consumers were forced to buy, along with the new devices to play them, the consumers had clearly made a choice already.? It was hard to deny that music downloads were here to stay.
But the biggest problem still remained.? Even if the songs were purchased online, how could the record companies prevent people from sharing the files again?? The answer came in the form of DRM (Digital Rights Management) encryption.? Every song file you pay for and download from the Internet (or at least those from major record labels) have a DRM lock.? If you want to transfer a file to your friend, you have to authorize their computer, and you only have a few authorizations per song.? This also means that all of your songs are not playable on all devices. ?
Part of this is proprietary.? DRM is mandatory, but all companies are using their own.? The iTunes Music Store only works with the iPod.? Microsoft’s Zune only works with songs from the Zune Marketplace.? All other random MP3 players work with Napster, Rhapsody, and other “Plays for Sure” stores (a DRM code that Microsoft set up to rival iTunes and later abandoned themselves).?
Some music is rented only giving the user monthly rights to listen.? Other music is purchased, allowing songs to be burned to CDs and limited file transfers among users.
But the music is still encoded, still limited.? Unlike a CD, which can be played on any brand CD player, in your computer or car, the way you listen to the music you download is essentially controlled by the record companies. ?
Earlier this week, Apple founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, posted a manifesto on the company Web site entitled, “Thoughts on Music.”? It’s a fascinating and insightful read, and I highly recommend it.? In it, he calls for the listeners to rise up and tell the record labels to end DRM and allow music to be open.?
Many people blame Apple’s iTunes for the DRM fiasco, but Jobs explains that if iTunes’ DRM is breeched or removed, the record labels can pull their music from the online store.
Until the record labels put an end to DRM, downloaded music will never truly belong to the listener.? Until people protest, they will continue to control the game.? If DRM is allowed to continue, we can only assume it will get worse from here, and as a music lover, I’d rather nip it in the bud.