Music content owners consider dropping DRM technology
Feb 8, 2007 8:00 AM

Some major record labels are now considering the release of
commercial music on the Internet with no copy protection.

Executives of several technology companies have told the "New
York Times" that at least one of the four major record companies
could move toward the sale of unrestricted digital files in the
MP3 format within a matter of months.

Independent record labels already sell tracks digitally compressed
in the MP3 format. These files, which include no digital rights
management (DRM) technology, can be downloaded, e-mailed or copied
to CD. They can also be played on virtually any music player,
including Apple's iPod.

For major recording companies, which have been weary of easily
shared MP3 files, however, providing music in that format is not
an option. Until last year, the industry was counting on online
purchases of music using DRM, led by Apple's iTunes music store,
to make up the difference in the declining sales of compact discs.

In article reader2.panix.com>, abuse@MIX.COM wrote:

Too bad, so sad for the recording industry. The reason that CD sales
are falling is that the music sucks. If they put out decent music,
they'd sell more CDs. But instead they put out crap and nobody buys it.
"It must be the pirates' fault! That's it! The public is too stoopid
to know that the music we sell is just recycled ABBA over and over
again. So if it's not selling, it has to be the pirates!"

Arrr!