Collapse of Music DRM Continues; DRM Customers Still Screwed

from the we're-shocked dept

Tue, May 20th 2008 5:11pm — Timothy Lee

Support for DRM in the recording industry is in freefall. On Tuesday, Napster released a new version of its music store offering 6 million DRM-free tracks. Napster is a relative latecomer to this party, joining Apple, Amazon, and Wal-Mart, all of whom have had at least some DRM-free, major-label music available for about a year. One difference, though, is that Napster is coming out of the chute with support from all four major labels and thousands of smaller labels as well. At this point, any music store that doesn't offer DRM-free tracks is going to look like a real laggard. This story wasn't too surprising given the way things have been going over the last year. But even less surprising is the fact that customers who were foolish enough to purchase DRMed content from previous versions of Napster are stuck with their decision. They don't get to update their content to MP3 format, and while Napster has decided to continue running its "license servers" for now, it's only a matter of time before Napster decides running those servers is more trouble than it's worth and shuts them off, cutting customers off from their music libraries entirely.

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Filed Under: downloads, drm, mp3s
Companies: napster

21 Comments

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Cory, 20 May 2008 @ 5:48pm

music stores
The Apple store and Rhapsody is so much easier to use than most music stores/sites due to its easy to use interface and friendly appeal, while people who are still using the old and stale Napster should move on and start on a fresh track in life.
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kiba, 20 May 2008 @ 6:17pm

So the record companies changes their stance on DRM but will it be enough to save them?
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Lionel Mandrake, 20 May 2008 @ 6:23pm

The end of DRM?
I guess we all shoulda known. But the line "Do you wanna get a 2nd mortgage on your house and give Steve Jobs 10 Grand of your money for 10K songs -OR- do you wanna pay 10 bucks a month for all the music you can eat?" was truly compelling to only a few people.

Clearly the winning 10K songs solution has been give to Steve 100 bucks and then steal 9.9 grand worth of songs.

The head of Janus had TWO faces. That should have been a clue.

LM
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Nate, 20 May 2008 @ 6:23pm

Sometimes, I am glad I never got on the Napster 2 bandwagon. Actually, I am still the guy that goes and buys the CD and rips the music at whatever bitrate/format I want. It may seem almost archaic these days, but guess what... I control my music that I paid for. http://www.custompcmax.com
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Scott, 20 May 2008 @ 6:41pm

Customer Service
With the changes regarding DRM don't you think that these companies would offer a way for the customer to switch from DRM to non-DRM? It seems like a no-brainer for keeping customers happy with a purchase.
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Faceless Minion, 20 May 2008 @ 6:54pm

Re: Customer Service
Since when do any of the record companies, or ANY of the companies pushing DRM, have brains?
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DarrenTomlyn (profile), 20 May 2008 @ 8:54pm

Capitalism
What we are seeing here, is that a capitalist society generally gets what they deserve... (And unfortunately we're not that much better over here in the UK, (though we are in some respects)).

In short - if you're prepared to buy crap, thats what you'll be sold...
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Anonymous Coward, 20 May 2008 @ 9:15pm

old DRM'd files
There is some good news for the people with DRM'd files. There are plenty of decent programs out there for removing most types of DRM from the files.
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Overcast, 20 May 2008 @ 9:21pm

MY car Stereo uses a flash drive... but doesn't support DRM. It's obvious DRM is nothing but a kick in the knees to paying customers.

It would be easier to just get content via Torrent.
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Matt, 20 May 2008 @ 9:40pm

Re: Capitalism
Hey... The UK is a capitalist nation too. You have a stock market and your government does not own your businesses.
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DarrenTomlyn (profile), 20 May 2008 @ 10:45pm

Re: Re: Capitalism
Yep - Britian is a capitalist country - it's just our consumer protection laws are a little better than the US (ASAICT), aswell as mroe people who won't put up with crap - (well, usually). (There's quite a few things which are allowed/done in the US which you wouldn't get away with/work over here, as far as consumer-based goods and services are concerned - (though not all of them are because of the law - our national consumer association has TEETH)). (Though, yes, since music/film etc. are luxury goods, they don't really count).
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 21 May 2008 @ 5:34am

Re to a couple
Re: Main Article
" .. it's only a matter of time before Napster decides running those servers is more trouble than it's worth and shuts them off, cutting customers off from their music libraries entirely."
And that is where the media converting programs come in. Either that or downloading the songs off of torrent. After all, it is not illegal to own a backup of your legally purchased music.

Re Overcast #9
"It would be easier to just get content via Torrent."
Oh, it is my friend, it is.
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Michael Armstrong, 21 May 2008 @ 6:52am

Napster DRM
Who's to say that Napster, at such time that they decide to turn off the DRM servers, won't offer some kind of deal to their former DRM customers? Just because they don't TODAY doesn't mean that won't TOMORROW.

I'd still hate to have a large investment in DRM tracks though.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2008 @ 7:20am

Re: The end of DRM?
I... don't understand what you just said. How'd Janus get into this discussion? Isn't he all about Time, not music?

And $9900 in music? I'm fairly certain there aren't that many songs I like, total.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2008 @ 7:21am

Re:
I stopped buying CDs because I don't want 80% of what was on them. I'm still unwilling to pay $18 for two songs.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2008 @ 7:23am

Re: Customer Service
No. It's a no-brainer that if people are unhappy with a past product, then they'll buy the new, better one. Giving them a way to up-convert their old purchace is a loss of a sale. And as they've been telling us for a decade, that's stealing.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2008 @ 7:25am

Re: Napster DRM
You have way too much faith in these guys.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2008 @ 12:30pm

Re: old DRM'd files
There is some good news for the people with DRM'd files. There are plenty of decent programs out there for removing most types of DRM from the files.
And the other good news is that for those with limited funds there are plenty of banks out there that they can go rob. But if we're talking about LEGAL solutions, people with DRM'd music are still screwed.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2008 @ 12:38pm

Re: Re to a couple
After all, it is not illegal to own a backup of your legally purchased music.
But removing the DRM from it is.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2008 @ 12:40pm

Re: Napster DRM
Who's to say that Napster, at such time that they decide to turn off the DRM servers, won't offer some kind of deal to their former DRM customers?
Yeah, here's the deal: You can repurchase your music.
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Nasch, 22 May 2008 @ 3:22pm

Re: Re: old DRM'd files
Please do not equate violating the DMCA with robbing a bank. I'm tired enough of hearing it from the RIAA, I don't need to hear it from humans too.
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