I've never been a fan of services that let you buy DRM music online, iTunes being a common example, always preferring to buy my music on good old cd (although I'd be breaking the law if I ripped this to my computer, so I just look at the shiny shiny and dream of what wondrous treats are held within.)
I never used the Yahoo music store but those that did buy DRM protected files from there were emailed recently telling them that the store was being shut down. Fair enough you'd think, with the likes of iTunes and Amazon (US only at the moment) online music stores it's perhaps difficult to compete successfully
but Yahoo is also taking its DRM license key servers offline on September 30, 2008.
Once this has happened any existing tracks that
a customer has paid for cannot be authorized to play on new computers. There is the workaround of burning the files to CD, then reripping them onto computer but why should a customer who has paid good money for something have to use a load of blank CDs, make do with a reduction in sound quality and a loss of all the metadatea? This is music they paid for, they took the decision to go out and but something it is all too easy to acquire for free these days.
All this is just another example of DRM creating problems that the people breaking the law won't have to deal with. It's the same as those anti-piracy trailers at the beginning of DVDs, the only people that see those are the people who bought the DVD in the first place!
I realise this doesn't affect the amount of people that perhaps iTunes shutting down would, I myself have only bought a few DRM tracks and those were on iTunes (I'm talking about 25 songs).
There are bigger problems in the world I know, but this in my opinion is just another reason why the music industry needs to knuckle down and stop using DRM as the answer to a failing business model.
I should also point out that there are plenty of places selling legal DRM-free music online, including major labels on iTunes.
MSN music also said they were doing the same earlier this year but their servers won't be taken offline until 2011.
So what are your opinions? DRM good? DRM bad? I need to get a little perspective? I need to get a new toaster?
Don't forget people that point 3.4 of the
AUP states "Links to illegal software, illegal software sites, or illega Bit Torrents/p2p sites" is banned so keep those replies clean
