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- EMusic Sells DRM-Free Music, Why Doesn't Steve Jobs?
Photo by schwa23 If Steve Jobs wants to sell DRM-free music, how come he's not already doing so? In an open-letter published on Tuesday, Jobs says Apple would love to sell music without copyright protection, if only the music companies...
If Steve Jobs wants to sell DRM-free music, how come he's not already doing so?
In an open-letter published on Tuesday, Jobs says Apple would love to sell music without copyright protection, if only the music companies would allow Apple to do so.
But there are hundreds of independent labels that will happily license DRM-free music that could easily be sold through iTunes.
Many of these labels, some of them pretty big, already sell unprotected music in MP3 format through eMusic, the second-largest online music retailer after Apple's iTunes.
A quick search shows that many of the same tunes available as unprotected MP3s on eMusic are sold as copyright-protected files at iTunes. The list includes recent singles and albums from popular artists like Tom Waits, Bloc Party, White Stripes, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Van Morrison, and many others.
If eMusic can sell these tunes without copyright protection, why can't Apple?
Which raises the question, why does Jobs – who is more reticent than Vladimir Putin after a giant bong hit – suddenly want to talk about copyright issues? The only time Jobs emerges from his bunker is when there's a new product to promote. Here's two possibilites:
- Instead of promoting a product, he's protecting one. He wants to head off legislation in Europe, where there's a legislative groundswell against Apple's tightening grip on online music.
- Jobs is cleverly positioning himself to take credit for the death of DRM.
The music industry is on the brink of abandoning DRM, according to the New York Times, after it has failed to make the slightest dent in piracy.
"…the major record labels are moving closer to releasing music on the Internet with no copying restrictions — a step they once vowed never to take," the Times reports.
What better way to get credit than a loud public call to action on something that's inevitable?
"Tear down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev!"
lkahney
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