Another nail in the coffin of DRM

Dec 11 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

ONLINE retailers Amazon launched its own digital music download service in the UK last week, hammering another nail in the coffin of digital rights management (DRM) in the process.

Amazon MP3 will sell single tracks from 59p and albums from £3, and will offer users a library of more than three million songs from which to choose. It was a significant move for a several reasons but chief among them was the fact that the new service is completely free from DRM.

Essentially, DRM restricts what can and cannot be done with the music file in question. Historically, legal music download services have restricted the number and types of devices to which users could download tracks, meaning they couldn’t transfer it from their iPod onto a CD, for example, or share it with their friends.

Ever since music first became available digitally, DRM has been a red hot topic. Advocates insist it’s essential in the fight against piracy, whereas critics say it restricts user choice. Now, the arrival of Amazon’s DRM-free service adds to the evidence that, after years of the big record companies insisting their tracks had to be protected, DRM is finally getting ready to leave this particular gig for good.

Amazon MP3 has already been running in America for a year, so it has clearly been a success so far. Its expansion to the UK will worry the market leader, Apple’s iTunes, which still uses DRM on most of the music it sells.

You see, Amazon’s move makes it a significant threat. The DRM-free tracks sold via Amazon MP3 can be played on a huge number of devices – including the iPod and a wide range of other MP3 players. By contrast, most of the music downloaded on iTunes can only be played on an iPod or iPhone.

If Apple doesn’t move soon to remove DRM from its tracks, it could find competitors taking a couple of costly bites out of its market share.

A number of questions have never truly been resolved about DRM. What impact does it really have on download numbers, for example? Or will the sales it attracts by being DRM-free counterbalance the sales lost because people can share tracks?

But one point not up for debate is that many people cannot stand digital rights management, and they’ll be drawn to services that enable them to legally move their music from device to device.

Steve Jobs, the Apple’s CEO, would be unwise to stick with it for much longer. And I don’t think he will.

Herb Kim is CEO of Codeworks, a centre for digital innovation in North East England.