Microsoft copies Apple yet again with dream of DRM-free music

By Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 08 April 2007 20:36

Opinion and Analysis

EMI’s decision to sell music without DRM through Apple’s iTunes store, and other online music stores, has not only enraged some competitors, but has encouraged Microsoft to jump on the DRM-free bandwagon.

Now that EMI’s momentous decision to sell music without DRM, announced in conjunction with Apple’s Steve Jobs, the world is wondering how much longer DRM will be with us.

We know that Steve Jobs, the largest individual shareholder of Disney, has publicly said there is no intention to remove DRM from movies, despite EMI having removed DRM from their music videos.

We also know that some of EMI’s competitors were in shock following the announcement, and now wonder just how much piracy will now increase, despite most of the world’s music having been available in DRM-free pirate form for many years, encoded not by the studios, but by individuals across the globe thanks to the ubiquitous MP3 format.

So far, among the major music studios, only EMI has made the bold move to offer the entire digital catalog without DRM, although a number of smaller independents made this move some time ago, with the eMusic website having been DRM-free for years now, and seemingly still happily in business despite their customers being able to simply give copies of music download from eMusic away.

But where there’s a good idea, you can always find Microsoft wanting some of the action. While some might characterize this in a bad way, copying Apple to sell DRM-free music is a great decision, although in typical Microsoft style, they say they have been in discussions with music companies to sell DRM-free music for some time now.

Steve Jobs’ anti-DRM manifesto must have had some impact on EMI, along with EU investigations and EMI’s own successes in 2006 with DRM-free tracks from some major artists.

So, now that Apple and EMI have broken the DRM barrier at last, Microsoft wants DRM-free music, too. Jason Reindrop, head of Marketing for Zune at Microsoft, told The Times that “We've been saying for a while that we are aware that consumers want to have unprotected content.”

Indeed, Bill Gates talked last year about how buying music on CD was the best way to buy music, as the tracks could be ripped and then easily shared amongst digital devices in the home. But Gates’ observations, already well known by consumers, likely did little to sway EMI’s mind.

One question that has been posed online revolves around how popular the iPod and iTunes will still be once DRM-free music is the norm. But unless Apple somehow changes the way that iTunes and the iPod effortlessly synchronize music, videos and more, iTunes shouldn’t see any declines in sales, and should actually see quite a boost, as the world’s most popular music store can now deliver music that can be played on any mp3 player (that uses the AAC codec).

Still, with only EMI on board the DRM-free train, we’re waiting for the other major music companies to see the DRM-free light, and then the movie companies to do the same, too. Until then, the fight to get rid of hated DRM schemes is far from over!