Thoughts Embedded Information in iTunes Music

Michael Gartenberg | June 01, 2007, 04:01 PM

There's a little uproar going on about iTunes acc't information embedded in DRM free iTunes songs. I've spent a lot of time today talking about this to press so I figured it's time to discuss here. A few points.

1. The information is recorded in the files metadata, as such it doesn't affect quality or if removed or stripped off, shouldn't affect playback. If it did either of those things, those might be issues.

2. It's a pretty common practice to identify stuff like this as proof of purchase and other stores do this as well. Apple has always embedded this information from day one and it's very easy to see. Other vendors likewise do the same thing. The reasons are many why you might want to be able to tell which songs on a users hard drive came from your store for things like promotions and or upgrade offers. If you're really concerned there's plenty of ways to remove the information.

3. It's hard to garner sympathy for folks concerned about uploading music to file sharing sites and being able to be found. I think the fact that you're concerned about being found might tell you that you're doing something wrong so don't do that. Let's face it, this is about DRM free music and not music sold without copyright. Or to put it differently, if I take the locks off my doors, you still can't come into my living room and take my TV, so this argument holds little merit.