As you’ve probably heard by now, Apple head Steve Jobs wrote down his “thoughts on music” Tuesday. These thoughts are apparently limited to the issue of whether or not iTunes should include DRM, the protection scheme that limits the number of computers where you can play a song you download. The reason iTunes uses DRM at all, he says, is that the music industry requires it as a condition for selling music online and that if they didn’t Apple would embrace selling music without DRM “in a heartbeat.” It seems obvious that he’s doing this to placate Europeans who have recently begun to say that iTunes is illegal because songs downloaded can only be played on an Apple product, whether that is the iTunes application that you run on your computer or an iPod (and soon iPhone). Apple could just open up its DRM to other manufacturers for use in their products, so you could then download songs from iTunes and then play them on your Zune, assuming you’re the one person that bought the Zune. But according to Jobs, this is an even more ineffective strategy because with that many people making products which include Apple’s DRM, the recipe for the secret sauce would get out much sooner. Unfortunately, the RIAA didn’t bother to read that far, as they released a statement the next day saying:
“Apple’s offer to license Fairplay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels. There have been many services seeking a license to the Apple DRM. This would enable the interoperability that we have been urging for a very long time.”
The ignorance there is baffling. Had the RIAA bothered to read to the end, they would have understood that Jobs was in no way offering to license Apple’s DRM. I guess they were too blinded by the dollar signs to notice.
Speaking of dollar signs, one of the first voices of support for Jobs came, strangely, from The Economist. You would expect that sort of thing right away from, say, Rolling Stone or Wired, but The Economist? The RIAA should be writing letters to them. And if they did, I imagine that it would go something like this:
Sir –We here at the RIAA read with some excitement your recent article about digital music. That is until we realized that you weren’t on our side. Did you really mean that getting rid of DRM is the right thing to do? How can you say something like that? We thought we had a good thing going. We guess we were wrong about all that. You’ve changed. We just don’t think that you love money the way we love money anymore. Don’t you remember all those good times we had together? You took us to the carnival and won us a big stuffed elephant? We still have that elephant, you know. We didn’t want to get rid of it because we thought it was special; a symbol of what you and we had. It breaks our collective heart to think that you want to throw all that away. But if that’s the way it’s got to be, then so be it. We’ll be by later today to get all our stuff from your place. We hope you’re happy now. We really do.
RIAA
Well, that’s how I imagine it would go. I could be wrong. I often am.
I largely agree with Jobs’s statement, with one pretty big exception. iTunes licenses an awful lot of music from parties that don’t insist on DRM protection. For example, there’s a ton of music that’s on both iTunes and Emusic (which offers music exclusively in non-DRM mp3 format).
If Jobs really means what he says, there’s nothing stopping iTunes from offering music from these partners without DRM, either in AAC or MP3.
I don’t agree with the RIAA’s position. Their response argues it’s essentially Apple’s job to “open-up” their DRM as a quasi-standard, so that Microsoft and Real and Yahoo and Sony can finally get their music on the iPod. If they want so badly for their music to work on the iPod, there’s a really easy way to do it: sell music in MP3 or AAC without DRM.
Microsoft’s new Vista OS has DRM technology all through it. I am sure that the Apple people have considered how ironic it would be for MS to finally finish the epic struggle to release Vista, encumbered with clunky, buggy DRM software hated by legitimate consumers, only to have the music biz come out and say, “Yeah we were just kidding about that DRM thing”.
As it is, it costs nothing for Jobs to say this, and it conveniently aligns MS with the music industry douchebags while positioning Apple as the cool cats.
I expect Jobs would be as shocked as anyone if the big 4 actually took him up on his offer to dispense with DRM.
there’s nothing stopping iTunes from offering music from these partners without DRM, either in AAC or MP3
Unless it’s part of the agreement that everything that iTunes sells will have DRM.
I am faxing a form to RIAA as we speak to get disclexington stuff on iTunes. I hope Jobs is right though. I hope only 3% of the stuff on iPods comes from iTunes and I hope it stays that way at least until this drm thing goes away. Nah I hope it stays that way forever and iHope people stop buying iPods and start buying some of the competitor products and iHope to never have to see Jobs’ face again.
The Economist is shockingly in step with reality on a surprising number of issues, given their bias. They do occasionally employ rational thought and research. There’s more than one way to obsess over power and money; we in the US have no monopoly on those subjects.
And since when has the RIAA held a position worth holding? I see mrshl doesn’t agree with the RIAA’s position. I’m not sure I agree with the RIAA’s existence. They’re not even competent evil.
No RIAA? I’m afraid that would leave a self-congratulation vacuum in the music industry. Who would hand out gold records? Will somebody please think of the gold records?
You crack me up Justin. Don’t they hand Gold records now to anyone who sells 10 records or more?
They hand them gold jump drives.
huge Beings sold about ten copies, where’s my gold record?
All I know is that I can’t use downloads from iTunes on the podcast.
Jonathan is one of the musicians here on ths Island. He sings like the ghost of 20 dead blues guys! Welcome Jonathan.
thanks for the clarification EM. there were a few jonathans i was thinking of. btw, whats the percentage of your population who are musicians?
If you’re talking Karaoke and a bottle of R&R whiskey, then probably 80%.
If you’re talking, individuals who have at some time in their life dabbled with things like accordians, guitars and spoons, then… 10%
If you’re talking about those of us who have equipment and set aside time throughout the week to work on original music then… 10% (3 of us, Jonathan included.)
My math is no doubt super wonky, because there’s only 25 people here.
And then ther was light…..
So how many peaple here are testing for Anna Nicole Smith’s baby? I know Ramon is going there Monday. Justin is going Wednesday, and Matthew, we know you shoot blanks so don’t even try to show up.