mitch's meanderings

Today Steve Jobs takes on the controversial topic of DRM. In a post on Apple’s website, Steve Jobs provides some background on DRM and the role it plays in Apple’s ability to offer music in the iTunes Store. He concludes by offering some compelling reasons to scrap DRM.

Jobs cites figures regarding the number of iPods sold, and the number of songs sold through the iTunes store. Perhaps most interesting is the number of songs sold online, compared to the number of songs sold on CD. According to Jobs, the figures for 2006 are:

• < 2 billion songs sold online worldwide (with DRM)
• > 20 billion songs sold completely DRM-free on unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves

If these figures are valid, DRM is protecting less than 10% of all the songs sold last year. There is absolutely nothing to stop anyone from ripping 90% of all the music sold last year into completely DRM-free tracks, and distributing them illegally. It appears that DRM has simply managed to make it more difficult to use and enjoy a small number of legally purchased songs.

Jobs talks about the practicality and impact of DRM in it’s current state, and some of the technical problems that come with developing and maintaining a DRM system. He outlines three possible alternatives going forward, but ultimately calls on the big music companies to “abolish” DRM, saying:

Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. 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.

The big question is, why should the recording industry dump DRM? The simple answer according to Jobs is, because it doesn’t work. What benefits are gained from DRM? Jobs says:

There appear to be none. If anything, the technical expertise and overhead required to create, operate and update a DRM system has limited the number of participants selling DRM protected music. If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies.

If that’s the case, why does the recording industry continue to shove DRM down the throats of online distributors and consumers alike?

One can assume that the music companies look forward to a day when all music will be sold exclusively online. If the recording industry never backs down, and DRM becomes firmly rooted and accepted by the consumer, they will have greater control over distribution, and personal choice than ever.

I hope that doesn’t happen.