DRM No More?
Do you know what Digital Rights Management (DRM) is? Well, you should. Its the annoying part of digital media (music, DVD, whatever) that prevents the files from being copied. I do not need to copy music so that I can obtain music without paying for it. That would be stealing. Which is wrong. I need to be able to copy the music that I paid for without running into copy protection. If the major music labels had their way, they would want me to pay for each copy of a song that I have. So if I had the original CD, then ripped it into MP3s, then copied it to another computer and an MP3 player, those music labels think I should pay for the same song four times!
In my typical music situation, I find a CD that I like, then buy it. Eventually, I "rip" that CD into MP3s. I then copy those MP3s to my home computer, my work computer and my iPod. Simple enough, except I limit myself to CDs that I like in their entirety. Its not worth it to me to buy a CD with one or two songs on it that I like, so I sift through CD after CD finding one that has multiple likable songs. The obvious solution to this problem is to buy songs individually on the Internet, but most of those songs are locked down with the aforementioned DRM. So if I do buy a single online, I run into obstacles using the music I paid for in the manner of my choosing on devices that I own. What happens is that I get annoyed with the process and when faced with a decision to buy, I usually choose NOT to buy the music.
With Steve Jobs' recent declaration that music should be free (of DRM), the music labels are finally taking notice. EMI (one of the major four music labels) is about to open up a majority of their music library, providing DRM-less music. If labels begin providing music without DRM, I would be more likely to buy, whereas I would not have with DRM. This would be a situation where removing restrictions would enhance sales. There is value in music. People are willing to pay for it. However, people do not respond well to restriction.