Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Techdirt:Music Execs Confuse "Choice" With Making You Pay Over And Over Again

Techdirt:Music Execs Confuse "Choice" With Making You Pay Over And Over Again:

This is the most telling sign that main stream media (MSM) don't get it:


"'Without DRM, the explosion in the availability of music via digital channels would not have been possible. The purpose of DRM is not to alienate music fans, it is actually to improve your access to music. There are now at least 10 ways in which you can legally enjoy music - the list includes: ringtone, master ringtone, phone download, phone stream, a-la-carte download, disc, subscription, online stream, UMD music for PlayStation, kiosk and video. Without DRM, these options simply wouldn't be possible.' "


Later, a quote from the same guy:


"I agree with you we'd like nothing more than for you to be able to download or transfer music securely between your phone, your home and work PC, a couple of your players and your home Hi-Fi system, for example. But we don't make the technology, we create the music. It's the technology companies that hold the key to achieving this


Ummmm, yea, right. I know of few (ok, none) in the tech industry who would argue that we should NOT be able to copy music around our various devices legally. The only reason iTunes has been able to survive without lawsuits is to slap some pretty tight digital rights management (DRM) onto the system that does not allow for this kind of sharing. Trust me - DRM-free downloads would have been much easier for Apple to impliment. MSM insisted on it.

My guess - 75% of us are people who only want to get the music we want and make sure the artist gets fairly compensated. We do NOT want to have to pay for that music over and over again. In the movie Men In Black K (Tommy Lee Jones) talkes about having to by the White album again. All we want to do is avoid having to keep doing that!

BTW I think there are about 15% of people, mostly kids, who would pay for music if they could afford it and 10% who would never pay for music and will always get it illegally. iTunes and other services allow for getting that one song that 15% wants. The other 10% you are stuck with. You will never turn a profit with them anyways. No doubt some of that 10% would be willing to pay an artist directly for their work, so maybe the internet works for them.

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