Skip to main content

Free at last, free at last?

DRM-free, that is. April 7 is the official date when “all” of the music offered through iTunes is supposed to be free of Digital Rights Management (DRM). As with so much with Apple, this is both accurate and incomplete.

Certainly every song for sale from this date forth is DRM-free. What tech writers, reviewers, critics, and consumers are discovering, however, is that iTunes library has shrunk. There are tunes that are simply no longer available. So if you downloaded a DRM-protected file, there’s a possibility that you won’t be able to upgrade that tune to DRM-free; it’s simply not offered any more.

And I’m wondering how Apple’s variable pricing is going to work. I’m also wondering how critics who complained about Microsoft’s tiered pricing scheme will react. Is it okay now that Apple is doing it? Amazon has had variable pricing from the get-go, but I’m sure someone somewhere complained about that, too.

What’s interesting is that you can easily shop for cheap music at Amazon. The same can’t be said for iTunes. Ars Technica reported it needed Apple’s help to find a couple of albums offering songs at the new 69-cents per track costing. If a tech-savvy writer can’t find cheap music, what chance does the average user have?

No doubt it will improve. This is only day one, after all. In the long-term, though, I wonder how this will work out for Apple. Ars Technica also demoed that some music is now more expensive on iTunes relative to Amazon. Yes, it takes a wee bit more to get the music from Amazon, but you’re saving 30-cents a track. I think the extra click(s) are worth it.

The iTunes/iPod eco-system remains formidable, but it was formerly invulnerable due to DRM. DRM is now history, which makes that eco-system vulnerable. The consumer now has access to at least three major sources of music on-line: iTunes, Amazon, and eMusic. There’s also Rhapsody (where I found, of all things, the out-of-print soundtrack to Hell and High Water; amazing) and the Zune Marketplace (which is 90% DRM-free, and should be completely DRM-free Real Soon Now). Beyond these you can find a staggering variety of specialty shops (Deutshe Grammaphon comes to mind).

In the end, it’s all good. I might even re-install iTunes so I can go shopping if/when I want. I’d prefer everyone to adopt something like the Amazon web-based system, so I don’t have to install all this software, but hey, it’s great to have the options.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Wick: Chapter 4

No sense in playing coy, this is a great film. I’ve seen it twice and while I don’t quite love it in the way I love the first, original John Wick , it’s my #2. It’s a little overlong, has some wasted space and time, has one absolutely pointless and useless character, and generally ignores the realities of firefights, falling, getting shot, hit, etc. All that notwithstanding, it’s a great action flick, has a genuine emotional core, and is well worth your time if you’re into that sort of thing. Like I am. Summary: John Wick (Keanu Reeves), last seen saying he was fed up with the High Table, goes to war to obtain his freedom. Some of the most incredible action scenes ever filmed ensue, culminating in a very satisfactory finale and a devastating post-credit scene. The first Wick film was a surprise hit. It was a simple, straight-forward tale of vengeance told in a simple, straight-forward manner. Where it stood out was its devotion to human stunt work, on exploiting long camera shots that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Not the Hero We Deserve, But the Hero We Need

The Dark Knight is the best film I’ve seen in years. Not just the best “superhero” film, but the best film of any type. It’s not perfect, not quite a masterpiece, but it’s flaws are, to me, tiny and overwhelmed by the time the film ends. While relatively bloodless, it is consistently brutal, not just in what it depicts but in the themes that drive it. TDK is a film for adults, please leave the kids at home. Let’s deal with those “flaws” first, the largest being the character Rachel Dawes . In Batman Begins , I blamed Katie Holmes . Her acting was weak, to say the least, which is regrettable in that who she is and what she says and does are important to the film. Critics agreed and either for that or other reasons, Katie was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal , who is a better actress. Yet here she’s weak, real weak. Maybe it’s the character, not the actress, which is frustrating because Rachel is a pivotal character. The film,...
1 comment
Read more

Dune Part 2 (2024)

I have come not to praise Dune but to bury it. I am in a distinct minority. So be it. To explain why, there will be some minor spoilers ahead; sorry. The short version is #NotMyDune. Summary: Picking up where Dune Part 1 left off, we find the young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) hanging out with the Fremen. Plots to overthrow rival houses and empires ensue. Go here to see what I thought about Dune Part 1 (2021) . Overall, I found it to be technically brilliant, but lacking a human heart, an exercise in frenetic slow motion. D2 is more of the same, though with far more action. Acting-wise, everyone is doing a fine, more than adequate job. Absolutely no one or nothing stands out. The way the characters are written (adapted, actually), their back and forths and interactions, are all weak and unengaging. I generally hate when they speak. I've read the novel a ridiculous number of times, and these films are prompting me to read it again. I understand that trying to translate the n...
1 comment
Read more