Comments on: Universal Music to form Total Music, another assault on Apple’s iTunes http://www.last100.com/2007/10/12/universal-music-to-form-total-music-another-assault-on-apples-itunes/ Tracking the digital lifestyle Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:39:11 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: mark http://www.last100.com/2007/10/12/universal-music-to-form-total-music-another-assault-on-apples-itunes/#comment-7331 mark Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:27:53 +0000 http://www.last100.com/2007/10/12/universal-music-to-form-total-music-another-assault-on-apples-itunes/#comment-7331 Isn't Total Music an assault on all digital download music stores? Isn't it simply the labels trying to kill off all distribution except their own (via DRM)? After all, the Universal DRM-free deal with Amazon is just a 6-month trial. And what's the point of killing the iTunes Store (and Amazon and Ovi, etc) unless they also plan to put DRM on CDs, and kill off torrents? If not, won't Apple keep selling iPods by the bushel, and won't people keep putting on them the songs they copy from CDs and from torrents? Where are they going to find great devices to use for Total Music, since it's really the players that drive the store and not the other way around? Not Apple (iTunes). Not Nokia (Ovi). And if it's another Microsoft DRM solution, how many of their PlaysforSure partners will come back for another backstabbing, uh, round? Is this how Zune and Sony plan to make a dent? Microsoft is already paying Universal $1 for each Zune; so what's another $89? Sony already tried DRM on CDs; what's another attempt; this time backed by all labels? Anyway, it sounds like a great plan ... for the labels and the DRM-provider. Isn’t Total Music an assault on all digital download music stores? Isn’t it simply the labels trying to kill off all distribution except their own (via DRM)? After all, the Universal DRM-free deal with Amazon is just a 6-month trial.

And what’s the point of killing the iTunes Store (and Amazon and Ovi, etc) unless they also plan to put DRM on CDs, and kill off torrents? If not, won’t Apple keep selling iPods by the bushel, and won’t people keep putting on them the songs they copy from CDs and from torrents?

Where are they going to find great devices to use for Total Music, since it’s really the players that drive the store and not the other way around? Not Apple (iTunes). Not Nokia (Ovi). And if it’s another Microsoft DRM solution, how many of their PlaysforSure partners will come back for another backstabbing, uh, round? Is this how Zune and Sony plan to make a dent? Microsoft is already paying Universal $1 for each Zune; so what’s another $89? Sony already tried DRM on CDs; what’s another attempt; this time backed by all labels?

Anyway, it sounds like a great plan … for the labels and the DRM-provider.

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