On DRM

Michael Gartenberg | March 13, 2007, 09:40 AM

There was a lot of discussion a few weeks back when Steve Jobs wrote his letter about DRM. I think the letter and the timing were brilliant and it puts the issue of DRM squarely where it belongs, with the content companies and not companies like Apple. I agree with the overall with the overall assertion that places like Apple could sell more songs without DRM but asking consumers about DRM is a loaded question. The analogy best given to me by someone at a tech firm is asking consumers would you rather get 3 slices of pizza for $5 or all you can eat at a buffet. The vast majority will likely opt for the latter, even though that same vast majority will still only eat three slice.

I dislike DRM as much as the next person (unless of course the next person is Cory Doctorow) but I also will deal with DRM that doesn't cause me hassles or lock me out of my content in favor of new business models, such as subscription services (that couldn't really exist without some for of DRM) or the ability to download singles without the need to purchase the entire CD. In fact, Apple did sell two billion+ songs protected in this fashion so it seems that for many consumers, DRM is either a non-issue or something they are willing to put up with. It doesn't mean that it's a good thing.

I would prefer other alternatives. Right now, I can buy CD unprotected that I can transfer to my PC and iPod in higher quality than anything I can purchase online or buy ala carte from places like Apple. For me, it's a no-brainer. If it's a collection of songs I want, I buy the physical CD. Problem is there's a lot of CDs I own that I bought for one or two songs and that usually leads me to the iTunes music store. The funny thing is, I still usually buy a CDs worth of material at a time so there's no real revenue loss. It will be interesting to see how the labels respond to the call from Jobs. Perhaps lower quality downloads will be unprotected with an emphasis on a premium for higher quality songs. I'm not optimistic, but then again, I didn't think we'd ever see an Apple phone from a carrier with no carrier branding on it either.