DRM: The recording industry's biggest mistake

On Friday, I read a post in Techdirt, regarding the newly launched Yahoo! music store. It claimed that lack of scope (ie number of songs) isn't what's hampering the growth of online music sales, and that smart labels need to move towards a new business model.

They don't.

The classical business model is fine. People are, by and large, willing to pay for what the use. (There's a great essay on this by John Scalzi, here.) The problem is DRM (Digital Rights Management). Consumers don't want to buy AAC music that will only play on their iPod. They don't want to buy WMA music that will only play on their (insert one of many WMA compatable players here). They want music that they'll own forever, can move between whatever player they wish, and can put on any computer they wish. In short, they want to buy mp3s.

The industry's embrace of DRM is nothing short of idiotic. Non-DRM files are readily available from pirate networks. The only places they're not available are music stores. If one wants music one can take from one's house to one's car, one has to either buy and rip a CD, or become a pirate.

DRM does have its place, and that's in song samples. Let me listen to a new song for a few days. If I like it, require that I buy it, but let me buy it without a digital lien.

Though the recording industry's business model has some issues, there are only so many subscriptions to which people are going to, or at least can afford to, subscribe. Record companies have already forgone billions in revenue by ignoring customer demands, and created an entire generation of people accustomed to and comfortable with pirating. How much more do they have to loose before they wake up?

(Tune in tomorrow for my diatribe on the wireless phone carriers and their lovely walled gardens.)