last100 » EMI

Vodafone Music’s DRM-free move makes Apple and Nokia look bad

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:08:13 +0000

Vodafone, which currently operates music download stores in over 20 countries, is to become the latest company to jump on the DRM-free bandwagon, announcing this week that it will soon be transitioning its music catalog away from the copy-protected WMA format to standard MP3s. Additionally, customers will be able to covert their existing Vodafone purchases to DRM-free versions at no extra charge, unlike Apple’s current iTunes arrangement where users wishing to ‘upgrade’ are effectively asked to pay twice.

That’s the good news as far as Vodafone is concerned. The bad: only three of the four major record labels are on board – Universal Music Group, Sony Music and EMI – with Warner, for now at least, refusing to join in the fun, and the whole DRM-free deal only applies to a la carte downloads not Vodafone’s MusicStation all-you-can eat subscription service.

Although DRM-free music downloads via the PC are just about the norm these days, until recently the majority of ‘over-the-air’ mobile offerings still employed some form of copy-protection technology. How times are changing. AmazonMP3 was recently chosen as the default music store on the T-Mobile G1, the first device running the Google-led Android mobile operating system, and the e-tailer has a similar arrangement with Palm for its upcoming Pre smartphone. Meanwhile, in January Apple’s iTunes Store completed its lengthy transition to a DRM-free format, including adding 3G ‘over-the-air’ music downloads to the iPhone sans DRM.

Nokia missing in action

As a side note: all of this DRM-free love is making Nokia look decidedly out of touch. Just yesterday, the handset maker announced that its music download store and ambitious ‘Comes With Music’ (CwM) all-you-can-eat subscription service is rapidly expanding to include more countries and support on three new music-focused phones, yet both the Nokia Music Store and CwM heavily rely on DRM. Although copy-protection technology is probably a necessary evil for CwM, at the insistence of the major record labels who, along with Nokia, are nervously moving into very new territory, for a la carte downloads it just doesn’t make sense. Until the Nokia Music Store drops DRM, I suspect more tech-savvy customers will continue to shop elsewhere, even if that means putting up with the inconvenience of ’side-loading’ music to their phone via a PC.

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A year after launch, free music service Qtrax has all four majors but questions remain

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:29:21 +0000

Twelve months ago, free ad-supported music download service Qtrax launched in a blaze of controversy, most notably claiming it had support from all four major record labels, which was news to them. Qtrax is going after the holy grail of music, free and legal downloads, and so it wasn’t surprising that the company faced a licensing uphill battle. A year later and all the “t”s have been crossed and the “i”s dotted: EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and Universal Music are on board, reports AP, and a relaunch is planned for next month. However, a few questions remain.

At the original launch, Qtrax claimed that the service would support the iPod, which sounded like pie in the sky since Apple doesn’t license its copy-protection technology to third-parties, and the Qtrax proposition in heavily reliant on DRM. Users need to be connected to the Internet to authorize the tracks they play, as well as ‘phone home’ other data such as play count in order for the labels (and artists) to be compensated fairly from the pool of available ad revenue. The AP article makes mention of iPod support still being on the cards. Baloney.

Beyond iPods, Qtrax says that a large number of smartphones and mp3 players are supported — users can transfer downloaded tracks to said devices but they’ll need to re-sync them once a month in order to see advertisements and send back that crucial listening data. However, no where on the site can I find which mobile devices are compatible, aside from mentions of Windows Media DRM.

There’s also the question of whether Qtrax’s necessary but kludgy approach really has reached the holy grail as it introduces a level of inconvenience that may turn users away. Instead, ad-supported streaming services, with no download required, might have a better future. Especially as Internet access – even on the go – becomes increasingly ubiquitous.

And then there’s that advertising pot. Will it be bigger enough to satisfy the majors in the long term? Qtrax doesn’t feature audio ads but banners only, which I suspect won’t command a very high rate.

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Wal-Mart ditches DRM at a cost

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:49:59 +0000

When Wal-Mart first starting selling DRM-free music through its online store, we had one major complaint. Alongside those iPod-friendly MP3s from EMI and Universal Music, sat copy-protected tracks from the two remaining major labels that were only compatible with PCs running Windows and supported PlayForSure devices. A sure way to confuse customers and create a very poor shopping experience, we concluded.

Along with a redesign of the Wal-Mart online music store, the “world’s largest retailer” has finally ditched DRM completely but at a cost. Rather than successfully negotiating licensing deals with the DRM-free holdouts – Sony BMG and Warner Music – Wal-Mart has sacrificed music from those two labels completely (tracks from Sony BMG’s Neil Diamond seem to be the exception, reports Wired).

So why has Wal-Mart relaunched its online music store – DRM-free – without waiting till it could offer music from all four major labels? As Insanely Great Mac notes, the retailer is likely holding out for much more favorable terms, and by relaunching early is calling Sony BMG and Warner’s bluff. The majors are renown for demanding very favorable terms, which often involve substantial upfront costs and/or equity. If you’ve ever wondered why iTunes doesn’t carry DRM-free tracks from all four major labels (yet), there lies your answer.

Aside from having a half full catalog, the new Wal-Mart online music store still suffers from another major demon: the site requires Windows Internet Explorer running on XP or Vista — no Mac or Linux customers allowed.

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