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November 14, 2007

music

Putting the “DRM” in “drama”: Bronfman changing his tune?

Posted Nov. 14, ’07, 8:47 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Music

Bronfman and DiddyWhen last we saw Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr., he’d begun to soften his stance on DRM, alleging that while the technology was here to stay, it was perhaps open to discussion in certain arenas. Now Bronfy has gone further and admitted, while speaking at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in Macau, that the music industry has made mistakes (Gasp! No!):

“We used to fool ourselves,’ he said. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.”
Egad. What’s next? Praising Apple?
“You need to look no further than Apple’s iPhone to see how fast brilliantly written software presented on a beautifully designed device with a spectacular user interface will throw all the accepted notions about pricing, billing platforms and brand loyalty right out the window. And let me remind you, the genesis of the iPhone is the iPod and iTunes - a music device and music service that consumers love.”
What? What? That’s it, there’s only one logical solution: Bronfman is being trailed by an Apple handler wielding a portable version of the Reality Distortion Field.

So, could this mean progress on the DRM-free front? Warner did recently open a DRM-free section of their UK classical and jazz store (perhaps they’re thinking that classical and jazz fans are less likely to steal music, you know, because they’re classier than that). Steve Jobs has only about six weeks to meet his goal of half of iTunes’s catalog going DRM-free, and Warner Music could be the key to that. Keep the RDF cranked, fellas; he’s cracking.


1 Comments

DBL said:

“We used to fool ourselves."

Well if they aren't anymore, then they could have fooled me! And what's this 'we'? As if the music industry as a whole has seen the light of day? Then why are they still collectively stabbing themselves with a fork? Basically there is no part of that sentence that isn't disingenuous.

November 14, 2007 10:35 AM

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