Get Major Exposure - DRM Puts Music Biz at a Crossroads

By: Tammy Rose
Word Count: 587

To the music industry and the RIAA, Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is essential; the software protects artists and their copyrights from piracy. To hackers, it is just one more hurdle to clear before music becomes free. But for customers, DRM is a nuisance that forces legal downloader’s to clear the same hurdles their illegal counterparts must jump.

Without DRM, many artists would not sell their songs online. Either the Independent artists themselves would not trust their songs to haphazard download, or—far more likely—the recording companies that distribute the material would not put out albums if they can be easily pirated.

Apple’s iTunes employs DRM protection, and because the store sells the majority of legal downloads it is the biggest target of DRM-based complaining. Not only are pirates supposedly locked out, but also legal downloader’s are locked into using the iPod, since iTunes songs do not play on other MP3 players. iPods are also unable to play songs downloaded through most other services.

ITunes is important to the industry, because it is worth so much money. The flat $0.99/song plan is still in place, despite RIAA outcry, because the industry realizes it cannot be nearly as profitable without the top online marketplace.

Because the iPod is the best selling MP3 player, many would assume it is the best and that the player has something going for it that other players do not. In noting the dominance of the iPod and iTunes, it would be remiss to overlook somewhat of a chicken or the egg scenario: Would the iPod be as popular if iTunes music business could be played on other devices? Would iTunes be as popular if so many people did not already have an iPod, which could only play iTunes compatible songs?

Much like the chicken-egg dilemma, it is a difficult question to answer. The bottom line, however, is that DRM is giving Apple a significant competitive advantage over all of its competitors, and the shudder-inducing term monopoly is not far off. Due to an extreme lack of competition, Apple is able to engage in, shall I say, near-monopolistic price-fixing tendencies. Other companies are forced to either follow suit, in blind compliance, or twist in the wind.

Some nations, such as France, have proposed that DRM be cracked. Apple has decried the possibility as state-sponsored piracy, urging France to reconsider how it affects artists rights. Meanwhile, France maintains that eliminating DRM gives users more free choice.

There are, of course, ways to get around DRM. These typically involve burning a CD of legally purchased songs—which only play on one music player—and then ripping said CD into DRM-free MP3s. After all, every music player plays illegal MP3s.

Aside from the moral implications of obvious stealing, it somewhat defeats the purpose of purchasing music legally if you must effectively pirate your own music in order for it to work everywhere you want it to. I cannot, in good judgment, recommend stealing, but I also cannot believe that every song on every users iPod is legally purchased either.

The answer to the DRM dilemma is not simple, and the path the music industry analysis takes will either ensure its future success or cripple it. It is clear, however, that whether it chooses to fully embrace or fully cast off DRM, the industry must act fast.
Tammy Rose – We provide marketing and promotional services to clients seeking exposure in the music business. We provide Independent Artist and labels with the means to service their records to industry insiders and potential new fans.
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