music industry
Latest
Extended iTunes song previews delayed, licensing may be to blame
One of the things that was widely rumored to appear but ultimately absent from Apple's music event last week was an extension of song previews on the iTunes Store from their current 30 seconds to 60 or even 90 seconds. According to CNET, we can blame the Byzantine licensing arrangement of the music industry (surprise, surprise). Apple had a deal worked out with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), all four major record companies, and a contract with American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) that never limited preview lengths in the first place. Apparently that still wasn't enough to increase preview lengths, because CNET says the National Music Publishers Association objected and basically said, "No, you have to make a deal with us, too." All of which just makes me wonder: how many different licensing associations does this cash cow industry need, anyway? The music industry giants gave up a lot of their power (and money) to Apple in the mid-2000s, and it seems they've learned their lesson. Unfortunately for us users, this obstructionism means we end up losing out on neat features. As CNET notes, the current mini-battle over song previews is likely just a warmup for the headliner bout: Apple's predicted music streaming service. Music industry execs already tried to get Apple to pay "performance fees" for its 30-second song samples; I can imagine Steve Jobs's response to that one was something like maniacal laughter followed by a hearty "No." If Apple does finally manage to get 90-second previews pushed through, it could be a good sign for its music streaming aspirations. [Via MacRumors]
Rumor: Cloud-based iTunes delayed until summer
Ever since Apple bought music-streaming service Lala, rumors of a cloud-based solution for iTunes have been floating around. And unfortunately, we don't have any official news on that yet (I know I'd use it -- I already share my library to all of my computers in-house anyway), but we do have more rumors. "Music industry sources" have informed CNET that there is a cloud service in the works, but that it's been delayed until the summer at least. There's no information about why, but apparently the delay came from Apple -- the company told music industry executives that the service wouldn't be ready until the third quarter of this year. I'll wait -- having an iTunes service that could send my music library to any computer I own (or even my iPhone or iPad -- drool) would be awesome, but of course there must be lots and lots of technical and bandwidth issues to work out at least. So if you are expecting to see a cloud-based service from Apple in the future, you can at least stop frantically refreshing the iTunes page until sometime this summer.
RIAA finds its soul, will stop suing individuals downloading music
When you retard fair use with pointless DRM and then sue anonymous children for illegally downloading music while ignoring those of the execs at the top of the music industry, well, you're asking for a public relations nightmare. Now, with more than 35,000 lawsuits to its credit, the RIAA says it will finally end the legal assault against consumers that began back in 2003. The Recording Industry Association of America will instead, focus its anti-piracy efforts with ISPs. Under the new plan, the RIAA will contact ISPs when illegal uploading is detected. The ISP will then contact the customer with a notice that would ultimately be followed by a reduction or cessation of service. As you'd expect, the RIAA is not commenting on which ISPs they are in cahoots with. The RIAA also says that it won't require ISPs to reveal the identities of individuals but could, of course, go after individuals who are heavy uploaders or repeat offenders. For the moment though, it appears that single-mothers are in the clear.
Amazon readying DRM-free online music store?
Oh boy, we're sensing an all-out war. Of course, the tables are slanted mighty heavily in favor of Apple, but it sounds like Amazon is up to the challenge of stealing some of the digital download market share that Cupertino currently owns. According to the UK's TimesOnline, Amazon is ready to "to launch an online music store next month," and while music execs never thought they'd see the day, this service too should have "reduced protection against copyright infringement." In short, the (hopefully) forthcoming service will serve up at least some DRM-free tracks as Apple's iTunes already does, and as expected, a vast majority of the free and clear music will come from EMI and various other "independent labels." Interestingly, it was stated that Amazon hoped to have the service live "by next month," but it was still unclear as to whether it would meet that goal. No word on whether this service will attempt to undercut iTMS' $1.29 per DRM-free track, but a little competition never hurt anybody, right?[Via ArsTechnica]
Music execs chime in on DRM: it's lame, but it ain't going anywhere
A recent poll conducted by Jupiter Research of European music firms reveals that DRM isn't exactly universally popular, not even in these bastions of all that is unholy and restricted. In the poll, 54% of executives thought DRM systems were too restrictive, and 62% believe dropping DRM would boost the "take-up" of digital music. That number varied dramatically based on who was being asked, with only 48% of record label execs thinking DRM would boost download sales, but 58% believing so at major labels, and outside the labels the executives seemed much wiser to the ways of the consumer, with 73% believing the death of DRM would boost sales. Unfortunately, nobody much seems to think the end is near. Says analyst Mark Mulligan: "Despite everything that has been happening the record labels are not about to drop DRM, even though all they are doing is making themselves look even less compelling by using it." Execs do seem to think DRM needs to be more interoperable, with 70% thinking that downloads need to play in as many players as possible in the future, but 40% think it's going to take concerted government and consumer action to make this happen -- not quite a rosy picture. This poll was conducted before all these recent Steve Jobs shenanigans, so perhaps the opinions have shifted since then, maybe even for the better, but we won't get our hopes up.[Thanks, David]
