Web Strategy Blog

Will there be a DRM-Free Music Future?

In a recent public announcement Steve Jobs discussed DRM (Digital Rights Management) and the fact that Apple would welcome the labels getting rid of DRM all together. Apple has been recently criticized, particularly in Europe because of the proprietary nature of their DRM technology called "Fair Play" which allows music sold on iTunes to only be played on an iPod player.

No matter what your music player preference - consumers are wanting DRM free music downloads. It was obvious to me that when attending some music industry conferences recently that the labels aren't any closer to understanding that opening up DRM might actually help increase music sales. In the heyday of the original Napster when digital music files were being freely swapped, the music industry was booming - since shutting it down, music sales have been declining.

EMI stands out as one of the forward-thinking labels - in December they experimented with selling some Nora Jones tracks DRM free on the Yahoo Music Store. EMI has been rumored in the WSJ to announce that they will sell a substantial portion of their music catalog as DRM-free music files - so the results must have been encouraging! If they do in fact start to publish all of their music DRM free, I for one will applaud and support that as a consumer with my wallet!

The DRM Battle in Digital Music

In Businessweek - iTunes has been accused of behaving like a monopoly by preventing iTunes songs from running on other media players. It was a huge frustration for consumers when some of the labels released CD's that couldn't be played or copied on a computer. More and more consumers are upset by DRM restrictions and the lack of interoperability with digital music and devices. In a recent digital music conference that I attended I was surprised to see that many of the industry players were still not seeking any solutions for this issue, which puts a strong focus on how out of touch they are with consumer needs.

The solution? Alternative models need to be explored - including the potential of getting rid of DRM altogether and creating associated models for the artists, labels and etailers to earn revenue will be key. eMusic is the #2 player in online music behind iTunes and they challenge the need for DRM, their files are unrestricted. It reminds me of the early days of open source (vs. closed) software. Today the labels have an opportunity to shape the direction of where DRM goes, eventually the consumer will vote with their wallet and that window will start to close.