February 6, 2007 12:10 PM PST
Apple's Jobs calls for DRM-free music
Last modified: February 6, 2007 5:32 PM PST
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The letter, posted on Apple's Web site and titled "Thoughts on Music," is a long examination of Apple's iTunes and what the future may hold for the online distribution of copy-protected music. In the letter, Jobs says Apple was forced to create a DRM system to get the world's four largest record companies on board with the iTunes Store.
But there are alternatives, Jobs wrote. Apple and the rest of the online music distributors could continue down a DRM path; Apple could license the FairPlay technology to others; or record companies could be persuaded to license music without DRM technology. The company clearly favors the third option.
"Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats," Jobs wrote. "In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."
Jobs' letter is a bit surprising in that Apple, with the most successful online music store on the planet, has profited by including DRM technology in its products, said Mike McGuire, an analyst with Gartner. "I think it's really interesting that the company that's the greatest beneficiary of DRM systems is basically telling the industry, 'This is a problem, you need to fix this,'" he said.
RealNetworks saw Jobs' letter as a vindication of its efforts to encourage interoperability between music services, which led as far as the Harmony software that allowed songs bought from other online stores to play on the iPod.
"We've been talking about the need for open formats for a very long time," said Dan Sheeran, senior vice president for digital music at RealNetworks.
The letter appears to address critics of the iTunes Store in Europe, most recently evidenced by a decision in Norway, where regulators deemed the iTunes Store illegal. An Apple representative said the letter was not written in response to those recent legal decisions.
"Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries," Jobs wrote. "Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free."
"You've got to hand it to Steve Jobs; he knows how to attract attention and how to deflect attention," said James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research. "He turned the whole European DRM question on its ear. 'You want me to open up FairPlay? Well, I don't even want FairPlay.'"
The Recording Industry Association of America, however, issued a statement interpreting Jobs' letter as an offer to license the FairPlay technology.
"Apple's offer to license FairPlay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels. There have been many services seeking a license to the Apple DRM. This would enable the interoperability that we have been urging for a very long time," it said in an e-mailed statement.
Opening the FairPlay DRM technology wouldn't be a wise strategy because Apple would have to give up the secrets of how that technology works, and it's likely that a hack for the technology would appear very quickly, Jobs wrote. Under its agreement with the record companies, Apple has just a few weeks to fix FairPlay if a breach is detected--otherwise the record company can pull all of its songs from the iTunes Store, he wrote.
"Apple has concluded that if it licenses FairPlay to others, it can no longer guarantee to protect the music it licenses from the big four music companies," Jobs wrote in his letter.
An Apple representative declined to comment on the RIAA's interpretation of the letter.
Any idea what Jobs means when he speaks of "the most serious problem is that licensing a [FairPlay] DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak"?
but I bought only one CD till date. Why? Because of DRM. I won't
give a dime for something that I cannot possess. How do I know
that in 20 years I will still be able to play the music with the DRM
of today on the equipment of tomorrow?
So I still buy my music the old fashioned way: go down to the CD
store, buy the CD, and rip it to MP3 (or even better -- lossless). I
have amassed hundreds of CDs this way (I paid probably a
fortune). I would surely buy it from iTunes as it is usually
cheaper and convenient -- but please, no DRM!
If Jobs was so against DRM - why are songs by performers such as Avril Lavinge (spelling error, sorry) being sold WITH DRM from Itunes, when the label itself does not require DRM on its songs??
Apple insists on putting the DRM on the songs!
Steve Jobs should jump off a bridge, I'm sick and tired of hearing about how itunes, ipod, mac etc is better than everyone else in the world when there are MAJOR shortfalls on all of their products.
I wish the Government would arrest him and put him in jail over the Options Scandal that Apple is going through, its the only way to shut him up and end his blatent over-the-top marketing/lying .
Josh Chandler
www.techoriphic.com
some agreements from the Record Labels, Apple can't license their
DRM to other companies because the actual Labels want their
music sold on iTunes because of Market Share and Apple is just a
distributor, not the actual owner of the music so they have to play
the rules of the game. This is all about money and how the record
labels want every penny from every album they sell. If it weren't for
Apple, we wouldn't have 99cent downloads. If this is how he feels,
then that would be great for everyone...
No one else in the tech and entertainment industry understand consumers as Apple and Steve Jobs.
When reading his open letter, you feel his confidence that in a DRM free music world, Apple would be a bigger winner than today. It is clear that iPod is more popular than iTunes, and as Apple make little profit from music sales, they would love to sell iPods to music lover who may prefer other music stores.
What is also interesting is Steve's clarity and vision which we never see from MSFT, DELL, HP or ADBE on how we user would like to see and use technology.
When was the last time Michael Dell wrote something of this quality. He talks about cutting bonuses, reduce staff, increase sales budgets, reorganizing the business etc etc. He is clearly more interesting in quarterly earnings conf. calls with analyst than writing vision letter on how DELL customer would like their use of tech change their world for the better. (we all knwo what Dell said about Apple last time)
I CAN imagine that world. It was what the world was like BEFORE APPLE STARTED SELLING MUSIC.
Steve Jobs doesn't give a rat's a$$ whether there is DRM or not as long as whatever the medium is can play on an iPod. In fact, it is probably cheaper for him to not have to deal with DRM. Don't get it twisted, he is not preaching for the sake of the end-user.
The problem with the record industry is that they helped create a standard, CD's and CD players, without the forsight that eventually people would rip and distribute thier content. DRM for music is nothing more than a retro-fit solution. DVD's have the same problem although they at least tried to encrypt the contents.
RIAA, you want to stop people from stealing your stuff, quit trying to duct-tape DRM onto your current goods and create new goods. Create a new medium and phase out CD's. You did it before with records and cassettes. This time think ahead.
The trick is to figure out how to sell music, videos and such, in a way that people would prefer to obtain them legally. That piracy would just be a fringe aberration that doesn't really harm the business.
I'm not smart enough to know the answer to this. I hope someone figures it out, because what we have now with DRM doesn't work.
You don't pay $10 / month for a song you could buy for one dollar...that WOULD be stupid. You pay it to listen to whatever you want, and not be limited to the various songs you've purchased online. Seriously, how many of the CDs you've purchased (if you're honest) in your lifetime that you can definitely say you still listen to...all of them, half of them?
Hopefully it's the former and buying songs one by one (or CD) works for you. It doesn't for me, and I'm ok with paying a monthly fee to access (and take with me) whatever's out there...it's the variety...spice of life...you know? Subscription models introduce you to all kinds of new music...I'd be really upset if that was no longer available.
Hey Jobs, why do you continue to cripple MacOS so it can't be run on any x86 hardware? Are you that scared of Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Asus?
For a company like Apple to call for a "DRM-free world" is the height of hypocrisy.
value, you make money -- hand over fist if you're also
marketing-savvy, articulate, sexy by design, and efficient about
operations. And that's why Jobs-bashing misses the point.
The iTunes store has always been about providing real value --
not just to consumers but also to the copyright holders. As he
summed up the history of the store's success in the context of
the iPod's success, "So far we have met our commitments to the
music companies to protect their music, and we have given
users the most liberal usage rights available in the industry for
legally downloaded music."
But if you are conspiracy-minded, remember that Jobs has a very
large stake in Disney, a major copyright holder. What works for
music might one day work for movies and TV shows. Everyone is
motivated by self-interest to some extent. In this case, Jobs has
articulated a vision that we can imagine as good for everyone --
consumers, manufacturers, and the software and content
industries.
And at the same time, Jobs has clearly fired a shot across the
bow of the big four music companies, which he not only names
but ironically points to their part-European ownership. If Jobs
feels the squeeze from European consumer groups, he is now
redirecting it back to the source of the problem. Steve Jobs has
put the music labels on notice. It may just be the right time to
do that, as pricing issues will resurface with licensing extension
negotiations between Apple and the labels, and DRM might also
be a major issue involving the Beatles music.
Tony Bove's iTimes
www.tonybove.com/blog/
I bet if someone built a website called "Steve Hates DRM .com" & posted zips of installers for Shake, Apature,Final Cut Pro, & any other overpriced Apple Software, along with the encryption keys, Steve & Apple's legal department would be suing a a heartbeat. Why Steve? I thought you didn't like DRM? A hole hypocrite. Yeah.Steve cares about consumers, Right. And my name's Zanny Blowzdogs.
- Idea well worth testing --- TEST IT OUT!
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by onlyauser
February 6, 2007 5:31 PM PST
- Who really knows if this is a ggod or bad idea for record companies. Mr. Jobs would be as fine a expert on the subject as anyone.
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See all 132 Comments >>The only real way to answer this once and for all is by experimenting with selling DRM free music files like EMI has been doing. If all the record companies and digital music websites did some serious and complete testing then the results would illustrate the facts. Does DRM matter or not?
Also, subscription schemes would not have to be abandoned if music files that are 'sold' did not have DRM and 'rented' music could include DRM. There could be many different ways to do it.
Test Mr. Jobs idea out!