Earlier this week, Yahoo released singles by Norah Jones and Relient K in unprotected mp3 formats as part of an ongoing experiment looking at the viability of offering music tracks that are free of DRM (Digital Rights Management) constraints, which have had audiophiles the world over crying "foul" for quite some time.
Apple has exercised clear dominance in the digital music marketplace, chiefly as a result of the popularity engendered by its iPod portable media player, and the device's subsequent dependence on Apple's echoes the lament of many would-be digital music merchants regarding Apple's iTunes: The existing model is, of course, the iTunes model. Apple's iTunes store, which sells songs in a proprietary format that works only with iTunes software and iPod devices, is responsible for the vast majority of legal music downloads. Because it has the dominant music player, Apple has been able to call the shots up to now. It was the only company with the leverage to get people to start buying digital songs online, and to get that business going the record companies played along. They had little choice. This has been the bane of other music services, such as Rhapsody and Yahoo, looking to establish a presence in the digital music market. As the Learn Out Loud does an excellent job by outlining the Top 10 Arguments Against DRM, these two being perhaps the most relevant to the consumer: DRM fundamentally changes who is control of your media. - This might be the most esoteric of the arguments and is a bit difficult to explain but in a nutshell, when you buy DRM content for the first time in history, someone else is dictating to you what you can do with something that you've legally purchased. Often the costs of the DRM are passed along to the consumer as well. - Since DRM isn't free someone has to pay for it. Sometimes it's the content producer in the form of reduced royalties. Other times it's the consumer. Take the example of eMusic and Apple iTunes. iTunes tracks sell for 99 cents while eMusic tracks sell for 25 cents. One of the reasons why eMusic can sell its music for so much cheaper is that it isn't spending tons of money implementing a DRM system and dealing with customers who are having DRM issues. So it is able to offer a technically superior product for a significantly lower price. Peter Da Vanzo Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Joe is a staff writer for latest ebusiness news.DRM Spells Trouble for Apple, iTunes
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