Quote:
Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash
I agree, and history agrees with this prediction. It wasn't so many years ago that many people thought that Apple would never get rid of the DRM on iTunes music files. If you wanted files from different retailers, you needed different players for all of them. Now we have several large companies offering DRM-free music. I no longer have to worry about what works with what when buying music, and my spending increased as a result.
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Time for a quick history lesson:
Apple originally asked the big labels for DRM-free music (back when the iTunes store was not yet announced, much less available). The labels said "H*ll no!" The outcome of the ensuing negotiation was that you could put your DRM-polluted music on up to
SIX computers per account (later reduced to five), and on as many iPods as you wanted. If you read the press coverage at the time, most were amazed that Apple managed to get the big labels to be so consumer-friendly -- most had expected much much worse.
Fast-forward to a couple of years ago. Apple came back looking for DRM-free music. See the open letter to the music industry from Steve Jobs for more information. They cut a deal with one of the big labels. The
other big labels were concerned that Apple had too much influence over the market, so they refused to allow Apple to sell DRM-free music. Instead, the N-1 big labels licensed all the other online music sellers to sell DRM-free; everyone
except Apple. That lasted until Apple finally gave in on variable pricing (a year or so ago).
The key thing to note in this little trip down memory lane: Apple has consistently been arguing for DRM-free music. From the beginning. I make no claim that they did so because they're great guys, or because Steve J. cares about the consumer, or whatever. It's much simpler than that: DRM-restricted music creates hassles for Apple's customers and makes iDevices less attractive, and that hurts Apple's sales. DRM-free music improves the customer experience, which makes iDevices more attractive and thus increases Apple's sales. Given that Apple isn't a music label, it's been
just plain good business practice for Apple to push hard for DRM-free music all along.
That's all a long-winded way of saying: it wasn't Apple that was the hold-up on getting rid of DRM on music on the iTunes store. It was the big record labels.