Record Labels Contemplate Unrestricted Digital Music

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There’s been much talk this week of (at least one of) the record companies finally coming to their senses and considering selling music online as unprotected MP3s. There are two reasons why this makes eminent sense:

  1. iTunes is the dominant online music retailer and the labels resent that they are beholden to Steve Jobs (and his refusal to employ variable pricing) for access to the iPod. But they don’t have to be. The iPod plays unprotected MP3s. If they set up shop in a form that is at least a little bit as elegant as iTunes, then they could easily do a run-around Apple. They would then also have great leverage next time they have to re-negotiate with Jobs. Apple likes DRM because it solidifies their hold on the MP3 player market.
  2. But won’t unprotected MP3s expose their music to pirating? Wake up and smell reality, folks. DRM does nothing to stop music piracy. Every song in creation is already available as an unprotected MP3 on P2P services such as Kazaa. Selling unprotected files doesn’t mean that they will all of a sudden make available to pirates music that the pirates have never been able to get their hands on. The fact is, the recording industry has been selling music in an unprotected forever in the form of CDs.

Jan 23, 2007 | Comments Off | Tags: , , ,

EMI to sell (some) music in MP3

According to today’s WSJ, Blue Note records (a subsidiary of EMI) will begin selling music in MP3 format via Yahoo. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, but for now the plan is just for a couple of songs, including a single from Norah Jones’ new album. What’s amazing is that this hasn’t been done already. I’ve always been skeptical that no one at the record companies gets it. But the article explains,

The MP3 announcements highlight a growing internal debate at EMI and other music companies over the correct approach to maximizing the impact of digital sales. Throughout the music industry, executives at record labels who suggested using MP3s for promotions spent years butting heads with their corporate superiors. … Mr. Hochkeppel confirms that he and other Blue Note executives had to overcome what he called “general resistance” on the part of senior EMI executives. He says they were ultimately persuaded there was a need to try fresh approaches to digital sales.

What I fear now is that if this experiment with just a few songs isn’t wildly successful, the suits still won’t get it. They should think about it this way: They have licensing negotiations coming up with Steve Jobs. What a better bargaining chip than the promise of a music store competitor to iTunes that sells MP3s, which play on iPods?

Cross-posted at TLF. You can leave and read comments there. →

Dec 6, 2006 | Comments Off | Tags: , ,

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