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February 26, 2007

itunes_store

Putting the ‘DRM’ in ‘drama’: EMI may stand for ‘Extremely Marginal Intelligence’

Posted Feb. 26, ’07, 8:42 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

EMILike many, I was swayed by rumors of EMI’s imminent relaxation on its DRM stance. I’d already bought my “EMI FTW!” designer t-shirt and committed myself to purchasing all sorts of music I didn’t really want, merely because it was DRM-free.

So I was crushed—crushed—to read this morning that EMI had retreated from discussions with Microsoft and other music retailers (presumably including Apple) about releasing DRM-free tunes.

What caused EMI’s departure from the table? You might be inclined to think, as I did, that it was merely because of a dispute over some piddling matter, but no: it turns out it was all about money. I mean, who could have seen that coming?

EMI wanted the music retailers to shell out an upfront payment to reduce their “risk” of lost sales because of music released without copy protection. It’s really too bad that the magic of the Internet doesn’t let you see me smacking my head into my desk; you’ll just have to take my word for it.

If this weren’t so sad, it would be funny—strike that, it’s hella funny. I have this image of corporate suits in a boardroom, slapping each other on the back for successfully preventing the widespread piracy of their valuable property while there are thousands of trucks being filled up with CDs at the loading docks. You fellas are smarties, aren’t you?

[via Ars Technica]


1 Comments

Dave said:

Just to play devil's advocate, this is an opportunity for Jobs to put his money were his mouth is. With his "Thoughts on Music" post, he has effectively become a spokesperson for the end of DRM (on music). Here's a chance for him to say, "I'm so confident that sales will go through the roof, I'll give EMI $x million up front." Then he can rake in the big bucks when people flock to buy non-DRMed music--except that only a fraction of the iTS catalog would be DRM-free (and most people don't know which company publishes which albums)...damn!

Also, I'm sure Apple has no interest in selling music without DRM for a year and then slapping it back on (if EMI reverses its position). Life is so much easier for companies (cough-Microsoft-cough) that don't put that much value in the user experience.

February 26, 2007 9:21 AM

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