How DRM Will Kill Mobile Music
from the not-the-other-way-around dept
In the past, we've noted that the whole process of trying to get copy protection on mobile devices was doomed to failure because it was based on the concept of getting device makers to pay more to make the devices less valuable. Now, our own Carlo Longino has written up a longer piece explaining why copy protection may kill mobile music. He notes that when we've reached the point that people have to be concerned about "compatibility" with the music they buy, they're simply going to not buy the music. In other words, the copy protection is hurting sales, not helping them. The only reason the technology is supposed to be there, of course, is to stop unauthorized copying -- but that's clearly not working. The music from copy protected CDs is still be traded just as much as in the past (it only takes one copy, after all). So, it's hard to see how the copy protection makes any sense at all. It discourages buyers and does nothing to stop files from being shared. And, yet, the industry is still focused on making us all spend extra to pay for this technology.
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slippage
most other retailers have had to endure - slippage.
There sill always be a certain amount of product
that is lost, goes walkabout, etc.
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Re: slippage
I still havent converted all my iTunes music over to a format that doestn crash my linux music players. They seem to all take exception to the .m4u unprotected AAC music that I got when I stripped the protection off the .m4p.
Now Im going to have to reconvert them to .ogg or something, which means the already lower quality I bought from iTunes will be degraded again because of a new lossy compression.
Why not just get it from a non-protected source where I can get it high quality and without protection and play it wherever I want?
Music companies arent losing out yet with me, because right now that source is CDs, but if they protect more of those and make that hard, I'll just have to steal what I want if it's protected.
I cant feel bad about taking something I cant buy reasonably, theres too many real problems in the world and theyre not exactly starving.
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paying for MP3s
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Yep
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Copy Protection hurts music sales
I buy a cd then copy it to other more convenient formats e.g. mp3 or onto minidisc, for my own personal enjoyment at my convenience.
Having bought this cd and loved it I have had to find other means of listening to it which has caused so much hassle, I now no longer buy any of this artists material in case the same happens again and I am very wary of buying any music unless I have seen the packaging first. I certainly will not download any DRM material for exactly the same reason.
Once I have paid for a copy of the music I should be able to listen to it however I please not as dictated to me by the music industry!
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