Is Removing Copy Protection the Music Industry’s Key to Online Survival?
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Written By Drupad Sil | August 10, 2007 | Share This
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As reported by both the New York Times and the Associated Press, Universal Music, subsidiary of Vivendi Inc. and the world’s largest recording company, announced that it will test the sale of digital music without copyright protection.
The company plans to distribute a large amount of its catalog to retailers without the usual digital rights management (D.R.M.) that record labels utilize to prevent piracy and illegal redistribution of their property. Universal will offer its music through Real Networks, Wal-Mart, Google, Amazon.com, and some artists’ web sites. Searchviews reported on Amazon’s opening of a D.R.M.-free store back in May, and it seems that Universal’s move will significantly augment the retailer’s music supply with artists like 50 Cent and the Black Eyed Peas signed. Of note, Universal has specifically decided not to distribute its D.R.M.-free music through Apple’s iTunes, the top online music store, even after CEO Steve Jobs issued a web statement in February calling on record companies to abandon the use of D.R.M.
The move seems designed to test Apple’s grip on the online music market. From the New York Times:
“The effort is likely to be seen as part of the industry’s wider push to increase competition to iTunes and shift leverage away from Apple, which wields enormous influence over prices and other terms in digital music… So far, only one of the four major music companies, the EMI Group, embraced a wholesale shift away from the usual approach. EMI, which releases music by artists like Norah Jones and Coldplay, first struck a deal with iTunes in which songs without copy protection (and with better audio quality) would be sold at a higher price — $1.29 instead of the usual 99 cents for the restricted songs.”
The music industry as a whole is more likely to follow Universal’s lead, but no other companies will move until the end of Universal’s ‘test’, set to last from August 21st to January 31st. Universal has played off its move to exclude Apple by claiming to use iTunes as a control for their measurements of the effect on pricing, piracy, and sales. In the past, companies that released tracks with D.R.M. caused a slew of problems for users, who were restricted in what playback devices they could use, as well as what computers they could access the files on. In this instance, Universal’s D.R.M.-free tracks will be completely compatible with Apple’s iPods.
Another question Universal is facing is whether to continue offering D.R.M.-free content after January 31. Ken Fisher at Ars Technica has some thoughts:
“At the same time, the company must be wondering just how much money EMI is making selling DRM-free music, at the iTunes Store and elsewhere. You have to wonder how many users are now gun-shy about buying music that isn’t DRM-free. I know I’ve run across a few Universal albums I would have bought but then reconsidered, thinking, ‘This will be DRM-free soon.’ Foolish? Maybe, but DRM-free products are clearly superior, and it looks like music fans in general believe that to be the case. A major survey of UK music buyers recently uncovered that most buyers feel as though DRM-free music is the only music worth buying.”
We’ll have to see how the move pans out for Universal and the online music industry in general. Last week, we had a post on how social media sites are democratizing the music industry. With most of Universal’s substantial library made D.R.M.-free, look for that trend to accelerate into 2008.
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