Journal: News & Comment

Why the recording industry is insane

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UPDATE: More evidence. This is really the kind of argument the recording and movie industries are making.

John Gruber is just too damned eloquent:

The [recording] industry's idea of a "perfect" DRM scheme is one that is not controlled by either Apple or Microsoft, and which gives only them (the record industry) complete control over what users can do with their downloads. Such a scheme does not exist, and it does not exist because it isn't possible.

But interoperability already exists: you get it with MP3 files, and any other non-DRM-laden file formats.

[...]

But that's not what the music industry wants. Yes, there exist legal download stores that sell music in MP3 format (e.g. eMusic.com)—but they don't have content from the major record labels, because the major record labels refuse to allow their music to be sold for download without DRM. The music industry's insistence upon DRM is what put the [iTunes Music Store] in the position that Apple now enjoys; the record industry is decrying a lock-in advantage that they themselves handed to Apple so they could deny their customers (i.e. us, the people who listen to music) the interoperability they now say they want.

Yes yes yes. Now go buy my album or just download the MP3s for free. Or you can get the same tracks at iTunes if you prefer that for some reason.

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