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Universal to Sell Music Without Copy Protection... but Not on iTunes

robertnq said:
Sounds dumb...why would i want to go to another music store open an account...download the song/album....and then load it into iTunes...thats just extra steps and more of a hastle for me...thats like driving 100 miles away to get cheaper gas...not worth it...boo universal!
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I can understand your anger, but seriously, chill. Life is very short, there is a war going on (amongst other problems) and your comment sounds very petulant.

Lighten up. I have both an iTunes account and a www.emusic.com account. I can attest that you are totally blowing this out of proportion. I enjoy using both services; each has its own strengths and weakness. Nothing in life is perfect.
Relax.:)

Peace.
 
As much as I love iTunes, music without copy protection is still a good step. If I have to go and download it from another website, so be it... it will be guaranteed to work with my iPod/iPhone because its DRM-free :) The only benefit to the iTunes store itself is convenience, although Apple has done a good job of pressuring the companies because they have a virtual monopoly.
 
the DRM argument doesn't bother me, however the insistence on 128k AAC does.

Music on the iTunes store is unlistenable due to this. Give the consumer more quality options.
 
Something more beneath headlines

This plan is described as a "test" ... to gauge user demand and if there is any effect on online piracy... While no specific pricing has been revealed for Universal's DRM-free music, at least some of the songs are expected to be sold at the traditional $.99 price point.
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Wait a minute. What we are getting from news sources is that Universal was at odds with Apple over pricing and that DRM was essential to thwart piracy. Now Universal wants to sell DRM-free music at smaller outlets charging less than iTunes would have. Everything doesn't add up. Either the price point quoted above is way off or this is just a ploy to move marketshare away from iTunes.

The other odd thing about this move is that Universal is gauging user demand in markets were there is no demand. Nearly everybody has an iPod. Those that don't have an iPhone. How are these other offerings going to determine how well the DRM-free music will do on the largest digital store.

BTW, with good speakers, the higher bit-rate iTunes Plus music sounds much nicer than the regular iTunes songs. I can't wait for all the music to be upgraded. iTunes is also great about replacing the previously purchased lower bit-rate DRM music so you don't have to worry about recreating playlists. Very slick!
 
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Eduardo1971 said:
Lighten up. I have both an iTunes account and a www.emusic.com account. I can attest that you are totally blowing this out of proportion. I enjoy using both services; each has its own strengths and weakness. Nothing in life is perfect.
Relax.:)

Peace.
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This is one of the BIG reasons I dont go anywhere else besides iTunes.

Go to emusic.com

You have to pay a subscription and you have no idea WHO they have without signing up.

Stupid.Just plain stupid.
 
bentley said:
the DRM argument doesn't bother me, however the insistence on 128k AAC does.

Music on the iTunes store is unlistenable due to this. Give the consumer more quality options.
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If Universal went the same way as EMI we would have DRM free and 256k AAC, although the price would go up 30c a song.

It will be interesting to see bitrates they sell at the other stores.
 
mudaudio said:
to me point a) makes no sense. It only take 1 CD to ensure drm-free files find their way into the wild.
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I'm actually in agreement with you 100% on this -- the labels have always argued that DRM-free files would increase piracy, but when the hard media itself has no restrictions, and the fact that all DRM schemes will be hacked eventually is considered, its clear their argument holds no water.

I just can't believe that they're claiming this is a test, when such a test would basically go against the basic tenants of everything they've been fighting for in the past 10+ years.

Then again, I suppose I should never be surprised at their complete and total inability to understand what consumers want, and why alternate distribution models (such as iTunes) have been successful.
 
More places to buy music that will actually play is good for the consumer. Not sure about Universal's strategy, though - they seem to be adopting an antagonistic stance with Apple that seems to be driven more by emotional ill than by good business sense.
 
bluebomberman said:
More places to buy music that will actually play is good for the consumer. Not sure about Universal's strategy, though - they seem to be adopting an antagonistic stance with Apple that seems to be driven more by emotional ill than by good business sense.
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lol, don't think so, Universal isn't that stupid. Its 100% business.
 
JonMan said:
The stance taken by Universal depicts perfectly the problem facing the music industry -- arrogance and an inability to see the reality of the situation.
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Six months from now, I envision the Chairman of the Board for Universal confronting this little problem:

You convinced us to cut off distribution from the music industry's fastest growing channel? Are you retarded? You're fired!

Good thing major label VPs are becoming as disposable as a squares of toilet paper. If they would apply some energy and creativity to making all of their online retailers successful, they wouldn't be in their current predicament.

If I were an artist signed to one of their labels, I'd be doing everything in my power to void my contract and move to one that "gets it." Either that, or I would demand that the royalties from every missed sale be deducted from the management team's salaries.
 
bluebomberman said:
More places to buy music that will actually play is good for the consumer. Not sure about Universal's strategy, though - they seem to be adopting an antagonistic stance with Apple that seems to be driven more by emotional ill than by good business sense.
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Agreed. If they spent more time and energy working on a solution that would benefit everyone concerned instead of trying to maintain a hold on a steadily declining revenue stream, then maybe something could be worked out. Instead, by taking this action, Universal comes out looking like a petulent (and greedy) baby.
 
Peace said:
"Universal Music spokesman Peter LoFrumento said, however, that the company isn't selling DRM-free tracks on iTunes for now so it could use the Apple store as a control group for measuring the impact of sales on pricing, piracy and sales."
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Using fancy words like "control group" make this sound like a scientifically sound market experiment, and maybe this is science to a marketeer, but the fact that they don't have a statistically significant sample size in the test group makes this whole thing kind of moot.
JonMan said:
TGuess what, if not for iTunes, the market for legal music downloads would be virtually non-existent! They are shooting themselves in the foot by playing hardball with Apple on this.
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As you make clear, they've gotten tired of shooting themselves in the foot and have begun to shoot themselves in the head.
Macrumors said:
NYTimes reports that Universal Music is planning to sell a significant portion of its catalog without copy protection (DRM) "for at least the next few months" according to people with knowledge of the situation.
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Others have alluded to it, but I'm going to say it again-- what's with this "DRM is necessary to prevent privacy" but "we're going to sell a significant portion of our catalog without DRM for a few months"?!? For an industry so worried about piracy, they have absolutely no understanding of what they're fighting against. There's this whole genie-and-bottle thing they're not getting.

CDs are a different argument. CDs won't be around forever and when the technology changes they'll DRM it if they can. Download is here to stay though, so that's where the battle is.
longofest said:
As much as I love iTunes, music without copy protection is still a good step. If I have to go and download it from another website, so be it... it will be guaranteed to work with my iPod/iPhone because its DRM-free :) The only benefit to the iTunes store itself is convenience, although Apple has done a good job of pressuring the companies because they have a virtual monopoly.
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You may not want to answer this personally, but it's a dilemma I've been going over in my head-- would you feel justified buying the DRMd song from iTunes and then pulling the unlocked song from a P2P? Artist got paid and you've wound up with essentially the same result as a burn-rip cycle, albeit more easily and possibly higher quality...
 
Peace said:
[snippet]
This is one of the BIG reasons I dont go anywhere else besides iTunes.

Go to emusic.com

You have to pay a subscription and you have no idea WHO they have without signing up.

Stupid.Just plain stupid.
Click to expand...

Click on the "About eMusic" link at the bottom of the page...
 
JonMan said:
The stance taken by Universal depicts perfectly the problem facing the music industry -- arrogance and an inability to see the reality of the situation.

They are concerned with Apple gaining too much power with iTunes? Guess what, if not for iTunes, the market for legal music downloads would be virtually non-existent! They are shooting themselves in the foot by playing hardball with Apple on this.

Do they not recognize the severity of the problem? I am in my mid-twenties, and am basically the only one in my circle who pays for music. Everyone else I know -- including my peers in the workplace -- is downloading illegally.

iTunes appeals to me, and millions of others, because it is simple to use and looks nice. Everything else out there, to be frank, sucks!

Let them try their new strategy, whatever it is. If they continue to isolate themselves from Apple, they will regret it. If they wanted to be this aggressive, they should have taken action back in 1999. Idiots.
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Excellent... could have written this myself and couldn't agree more.
 
The big music labels are a bunch of bastards, and Universal is the worst by some margin. They have their ideas of what the business involves. based way back in the early 90s. They've never gotten over the boost to their business provided by people moving from vinyl to CD. Result? They keep peddling the same old ****, and moan that their profits are being threatened by illegal downloads. No, their profits are being threatened by consumers having as many Beatles re-release CDs as any sad bastard could ever handle, and by the fundamental weaknesses of their catalogues. Let's face it, the music they're selling is ****. But no, let's not face it. Let's bury our heads in the sand and try to **** over iTunes instead. Let's hope they get shafted.

D
 
Analog Kid said:
You may not want to answer this personally, but it's a dilemma I've been going over in my head-- would you feel justified buying the DRMd song from iTunes and then pulling the unlocked song from a P2P? Artist got paid and you've wound up with essentially the same result as a burn-rip cycle, albeit more easily and possibly higher quality...
Click to expand...

I know I'm not the one you directed this too... but, here goes. I fall on two sides of this. On one hand, I could care less about the DRM, as long as it plays on the iPod and I can burn a CD to listen to in my car, I'm happy.

So, you ask, why did I upgrade every EMI song in my library when they made the DRM-Free songs available? Simple - higher bit-rate and better sound. I would take a DRM'd 256kbs over a non-DRM'd 128kbs download any day of the week.

Now, the other side of me harks back to the days of vinyl (and, yes, I still have thousands of vinyl records that I regularly spin - believe it or not, it really is the best sounding medium out there... but that's another story). When I was a kid - we would trade tapes all the time of vinyl "rips". Those mix-tapes resulted in me spending THOUSANDS of dollars on artists I liked. I realize it's different now since it's so easy to steal music, but I agree that the labels do not have a clue as to the best way to deal with it and their arrogance with regards to the situation only fuels the fires.

In the end though - an illegally ripped and uploaded song is still illegal... the simple answer to your question for me is "no".

fawlty said:
Click on the "About eMusic" link at the bottom of the page...
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I'm actually a member of e-music as well and love it. There are TONS of FANTASTIC undiscovered artists on that site and it ends up costing me an average of around $4 an album. As a music lover, it's a bargain. The bit-rate is variable on e-music and averages around 190-200kbs for most.
 
It's just a power play. Universal (which is actually NBC) can't swallow the fact that Apple is the big player in the Music Business, as the record business is almost dead.
 
No DRM is great, I hope prices remain the same, and honestly, the format doesn't bother me as much, so long as it sounds good.

I'm for pushing of old standards like MP3, or other formats such as AIFF, etc simply to keep Apple on it's toes.

Ya know why the AppleTV won't take off any time soon? Lack of format support like they had with the iPod. Keep the devices open, please.
 
I see this differently than others

Universal is doing it with these other retailers because it's a test and represents such a SMALL part of the industry. If something goes wrong, it's such a small portion it will have less effect. If they are happy with the results, they will likely expand it to the world.

It's a lot like when a McDonalds tests a new product in a couple small markets, they want to test the waters.

I don't see this any differently. It's likely this will backfire on them anyway because they aren't good with their public relations and they will always be seen as evil regardless of what happens.

I could also see this as using monopolistic power to leverage themselves. The only way you can make this happen is to email your favorite Universal artists and tell them you want their music DRM free and you want it on iTunes or your are NOT buying their music.

Consumers drive the market, but you got to make a stand.
 
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