Friday, January 04, 2008
Die, DRM, DieI predicted this would happen, and so it goes. I believe this was one of my predictions last year, or something like that.
In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, BusinessWeek.com has learned. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sony BMG would become the last of the top four music labels to drop DRM, following Warner Music Group (WMG), which in late December said it would sell DRM-free songs through Amazon.com’s (AMZN) digital music store. EMI and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group announced their plans for DRM-free downloads earlier in 2007.
The music business will make a lot of money off downloads, once they get some 20th century notions out of their heads. Make the songs cheaper. Support the sales of the songs with advertised sites. Other models will be thought up. It’ll work just like free sports on TV didn’t kill the NFL. It made them richer.
Not a Smart Thing to Say, McCain
I understand what he means. But that will not go over well.
Little Men Inside Your Monitor
When you click this link, don’t be alarmed when your browser shrinks. Just watch the show.
