If you listen to the net — and I do n’t recommend you listentooclosely , as it will drive you insane as certainly as if you were privy to the whispers of the vast underdeeps — then you ’d have safe reason to think that Apple was going to unleash the residual of their vast iTunes catalogue in a DRM - innocent format on Tuesday .
jolly much all of those stories colligate back to a single germ , French technical school site ElectronLibre , whichwrote last weekthat on the auspicious engagement of December 9th , Apple would add DRM - liberal euphony from the other three major label — Universal , Sony , and Warner Music — to its live offering from EMI and sovereign label .
Needless to say , as of Tuesday good afternoon Cupertino time , the tremendous ascension to a DRM - free heaven had n’t happened . The timing was eldritch , anyway : December ’s a pretty subdued month for tidings unremarkably , and we ’re less than a calendar month from Macworld Expo . Thereisthe at hand vacation shopping season , but DRM - free music is really only likely to make kiddie - pool - sized moving ridge in the sea of Apple ’s holiday sales .
I have no doubt that DRM - free tracks are being discuss in some pattern in the hallowed halls frequented by Apple and the record labels , but do n’t be surprised if it does n’t happen anytime before long .
Why not ? The reason is mere : there is no reason . If that sounds like a unauthentic Zen koan , just await at the grounds . Apple is stilltheleading music retailer in the U.S. , beating out even the brick - and - mortar chains . In the digital download market place , its jumper lead is even liberal . And the increase does n’t appear to be slowing , much lessshrinking . Much as a outspoken minority of consumers detest DRM and refuse to buy vocal laden with it , they ’re still aminority : your average consumer does n’t know DRM from ERA .
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It ’s a different story for all those other digital medicine storage : Amazon , Napster , Rhapsody , and Wal - mart all need to be sell DRM - free lead as the price of admission . Without DRM - destitute trail , anything you buy at those store could n’t be played on an iPod , and without iPod keep , those depot would just become yet another set of bygone culture now residing on the bottom of the ocean . On the one paw , the seafood ’s great ; on the other , they do n’t exactly do a raging tourist business .
The disk company have a go at it that and it ’s in their interest to keep those contender around and at least marginally healthy , if only to keep Apple on its toes . But it ’s a win - profits for the label right now : they sell rail by the commercial freighter - load via iTunes , and those common people who will under no circumstances pay for DRM - encoded music will either buy Cd or go to one of iTunes ’s competitors . Either means , the labels get yield . They ’ve got no incentive to hand over the keys to the realm . The trouble is that the iTunes Store is just too successful — and why mess with success ?
That leave the event of principle . Last yr , Steve Jobs came out and said that Apple would be happy to drop DRM totally . I reckon that ’s true : Apple has a loyal enough base that people would continue to buy medicine from the iTunes Store , and in fact it might evenhelpsales . It would certainly be in force atomic number 59 for the company , if nothing else . But do n’t call up for a second that Steve Jobs is losing any slumber over it . On his To - Do list , it ’s understandably under the “ would be skillful ” category — mightily next to “ make Greenpeace happy ” and “ turn Apple TV pursuit into successful business example . ”
The only way Steve Jobs is move to win over the labels to drop DRM is by showing them that they ’re losing ground to piracy . At the moment , though , the iTunes Store is doing a megahit job of contend with file - sharing . Even that ’s exit to be a hard sell for the old guard of record label — commemorate , this is an diligence that come up with the marvelous business scheme of suing their client . They ’re rifle to find the argument of run DRM - free to battle piracy riposte - intuitiveat best .
Nothing would make me happier than to see iTunes throw off the shackles of Digital Rights Management , as I ’ve write on a few occasion over the years . And while I remember that the principle of dropping DRM appeals to Jobs , the Apple CEO has an overriding principle : do what ’s good for Applewhenit ’s good for Apple . That time may be come , but it is n’t yet .
