DRM Archive

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Louis CK’s DRM Free Experiment Works

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on December 13, 2011Posted in: Music Industry

Louis CK:

I really hope people keep buying it a lot, so I can have shitloads of money, but at this point I think we can safely say that the experiment really worked. If anybody stole it, it wasn’t many of you. Pretty much everybody bought it. And so now we all get to know that about people and stuff. I’m really glad I put this out here this way and I’ll certainly do it again.

Really glad to see that Louis CK’s “experiment” of making it as easy and affordable as possible for fans to buy his product was successful. Who would have thought that treating your fans well and not overcharging them for DRM-saddled content was a good idea? Sure, he would have made more for himself if he let a large corporation handle the sales, but the goodwill he’s getting here will more than make up for it down the road.

via Louis CK.net.

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‘DRM Does Not Work’

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on November 30, 2011Posted in: Technology, Video Games

CD Projekt CEO, Marcin Iwinski:

From the very beginning our main competitors on the market were pirates. The question was really not if company x or y had better marketing or better releases, but more like “How can we convince gamers to go and buy the legit version and not to go to a local street vendor and buy a pirated one?” We of course experimented with all available DRM/copy protection, but frankly nothing worked. Whatever we used was cracked within a day or two, massively copied and immediately available on the streets for a fraction of our price.

We did not give up, but came up with new strategy: we started offering high value with the product – like enhancing the game with additional collectors’ items like soundtracks, making-of DVDs, books, walkthroughs, etc. This, together with a long process of educating local gamers about why it makes sense to actually buy games legally, worked. And today, we have a reasonably healthy games market.

In any case, I am not saying that we have eliminated piracy or there is not piracy in the case of TW2. There is, and TW2 was [illegally] downloaded by tens of thousands of people during the first two weeks after release. Still, DRM does not work and however you would protect it, it will be cracked in no time. Plus, the DRM itself is a pain for your legal gamers – this group of honest people, who decided that your game was worth the 50 USD or Euro and went and bought it. Why would you want to make their lives more difficult?

Again, the lesson here is to treat your would-be customers with respect and add enough value to your legitimate product to make pirating unattractive.

via PC Gamer

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Rumor: Apple Considering An Unlimited Music Subscription Option For iTunes?

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on March 19, 2008Posted in: Music Industry

itunes unlimited music
Several other blogs have picked up on the Financial Times story today that Apple is talks with the major labels in offering an all-you-can-eat music consumption option for iPod/iPhone users through iTunes.

I was actually just wondering about this earlier in the morning as I read Tycho’s latest Penny-Arcade post. It isn’t the best solution for the music-savvy since it most certainly would involve DRM and less than optimal encoding/bitrates. HOWEVER, there are just so many iPod/iTunes users out there that even a DRM hobbled unlimited music subscription model HAS to stick with a significant number of people, right?

Past research and consumer data has “shown” that subscription models have not resonated well with the public. But what if that’s just due to a small userbase? Keep in mind, only Windows Media devices currently have access to subscription music. Who knows how the general iPod owning public would respond to such an offer?

My money’s on it being a raging success.

Read the Financial Times article (warning: requires registration) [ft.com]

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The Apocalypse Is Nigh

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on March 9, 2008Posted in: Music Industry

Wired’s Listening Post has an excellent bullet point interview with Sony BMG executive, Thomas Hesse, about the current state of the music industry and what the future holds. Surprisingly, Hesse has some genuinely insightful thoughts on the state of the industry.

Here are some highlights:

  • Connected CDs are going to be a huge thing. Half of people put CDs in their computers, mostly for ripping, which is great, because they purchased the music legally. At that time, there’s a chance to connect with the user, sell more music, merchandise, etc. There are both promotional and upsell opportunities there.
  • The biggest opportunity we have is to create an access model for the consumer where the consumer can consume music in a virtually limitless way by purchasing some kind of subscription or device that comes with access to the music. Those are the most exciting, and are gaining traction. Various models are being debated right now. The mobile phone will play a critical role, and the device will play critical role.
  • There are so many options for consumers. We must be bold enough to throw out some of old models.

I gotta admit, the last place I expected to hear some rational, well-thought out analyses on the music industry’s current plight was from a Sony BMG executive. Mr. Hesse has managed to make me start to take the major labels seriously again. I don’t agree with everything he says in the interview, but he has enough good points that he has my respect.

Read the rest of Hesse’s interview [wired.com]

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Benn Jordan Infringes His Own Label’s Copyrights

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on February 2, 2008Posted in: Articles, Music

So the hip thing to do these days is releasing your album for free online and operate on a “pay if you like it” business model. But what if you’re not a big, established artist (Radiohead, Trent Reznor, etc.) with the moneyhats to pay for bandwidth and other digital distribution costs?

You pirate your own music.

At least, that’s what Benn Jordan (aka The Flashbulb) has done with his newest album, Soundtrack to a Vacant Life. Jordan’s taken the liberty of uploading his own album to a couple of torrent trackers, including renowned oink “replacement”, what.cd.

Why did he do this? According to his blog:

Well, they’ll be there in 24 hours anyway, and this way I can:
1. Be sure that people aren’t getting fakes.
2. Be sure that people aren’t getting bad rips (soooo many people have asked me about the “static track” on M³)
3. Be sure that people know where they can buy the album, or, “donate” to the artist by including an html file with a personal message.

Benn’s reasons certainly make sense from a practical standpoint. Any new album is going to find its way onto these torrent trackers soon after release, it’s just inevitable. And having information on how to buy the album from sanctioned sources is certainly better than having no information at all when your music is pirated. But is this a good business move for his fledgling record label?

Read the rest of this entry »

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Ding Dong DRM Is Dead – Sony/BMG Joins Amazon MP3

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on January 10, 2008Posted in: Articles, Music

Just one year ago, we in the industry thought it unfathomable for even one of major labels to abandon DRM for digital downloads of music. Yet here we are, living in a world where all four major labels are now selling their wares sans DRM.A press release went out today confirming that Sony/BMG would be making their catalog available for sale on Amazon MP3 by the end of the month.Am I surprised at the celerity of the major labels in making the move to DRMless MP3? A little. I’ve always maintained it was a merely matter of time before the labels ditched DRM. If it was not to accede to consumer demand, it would be to fight the Frankenstein they created in the iTunes music store.

Do I think Amazon MP3 has what it takes to take on iTunes? Sure. Amazon MP3 sells the better product to more possible customers at a better price ($0.89-$0.99 compared to the $1.29 of iTunes Plus). As long as consumers are educated properly and the service is marketed competently, there’s a very good chance this may be the one challenger to the iTunes throne to succeed.

But does this really matter at the end of the day?

No.

The future of music distribution is not in a la carte track sales. It’s in the pay-what-you-want model that Radiohead and Trent Reznor have pioneered. It’s in the value proposition that eMusic offers when you are getting $25 tracks for $9.99 a month. Neither of these are the ultimate solution, but they are steps forward. You have to look at how MOST people are consuming music nowadays. They do it via bulk through bittorrent or eDonkey or what have you. Selling DRM-free MP3’s for $0.89 each would have been a good start… seven years ago. In order to be the true winner of this sad drama, you have to be looking ahead of current consumption patterns. You need to take chances instead of playing catchup.

We’ve got a long way to go before this is finished.

Read the press release [businesswire.com]

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