music_news 91 posts

Radiohead released their new album In rainbows on-line for free with no labels involved.
The album is available for download from their site Radiohead.com. When you are supposed to make a payment for the download this line comes up "it’s up to you". Each fan can pay anything, even 0. However, buying the actual CD will cost you 40 pounds.

No labels are involved in the release."Radiohead's contract with EMI/Capitol expired after its last record, Hail to the Thief, was released in 2003; shortly before the band started writing new songs, singer Thom Yorke told TIME, "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'F___ you' to this decaying business model."(

The Universal Music Group made an announcement that it would offer a wide selection of music on-line without DRM protection.

It will be an experiment within a set timeframe (from August till January). The services selling the songs will include Google, Wal-Mart, Best Buy Digital Music Store, Rhapsody, Amazon.com and others but not the iTunes store. Also DRM-free music will be available through the artists’ web-sites.

The music will not have DRM but it will have watermarks which help to identify where tracks come from in case they come up in P2P networks.

Read more:
Chart-topping hits mark open-MP3 test by Universal Music Group, UMG press-release
Google's Role And Other Details Of Universal DRM Free... read more

This week the Warner Music Group, the forth-largest label has started to sell digital downloads without DRM protection.

The company opted not to work with the iTunes store for this project, although it’s been announced that downloads are iPod compatible and are priced similarly as at iTunes: around 99 cents per song.

To prevent downloads unprotected by DRM being leaked to the file sharing networks, files are downloaded straight to portable MP3 players without being stored on a PC.

The Warner Music Group is the second label sell DRM free downloads after EMI did the same last month.


Read more:
Lala Launches Free iPod Music Service, Reuters
read more

In his interview to Reuters, Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. CEO spoke against music subscription models and promised that the iTunes store would not introduce them despite the pressure from the music industry. “People want to own their music," he said.

Subscription models are actually a way of renting music and bring recurring income to the music companies. However, “customers don't seem to be interested in it” and [such] “model has failed so far," Jobs said.

He also expressed confidence that half of the songs offered on iTunes will be in DRM-free format by the end of the year.

Read more:
Jobs says Apple customers not into renting music, Reuters

Microsoft has hinted last week that it plans to start selling DRM-free music from EMI and others.

"We've been saying for a while that we are aware that consumers want to have unprotected content," said marketing director for the Microsoft MP3 player Jason Reindorp.

The company sees the EMI’s decision to offer unprotected music as an opportunity to gain a bigger market share as "It potentially makes the competition more on a device-to-device or service-to-service basis. It will force the various services to really innovate." Microsoft hasn’t yet given any exact dates when DRM-free tracks will be available from its store.

Read more:
Microsoft sees DRM-free music in Zune's future, CNET News

On April 02 EMI announced that its catalogue would be available for downloading without DRM. iTunes “ a true pioneer” will be the first on-line store to offer CD quality downloads without DRM which could be played on any device. According to EMI’s CEO this move reflects the current “consumer demand”. A track will cost about $1.29 in the highest quality. Also customers will be able to upgrade the files they already have downloaded to a DRM free mode for a mere $0.30.

According to the corporate press release announcing this historic decision “new premium downloads [will be offered] for retail on a global basis, making all of its digital repertoire available at a much higher sound quality than existing downloads and free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.” EMI believes “that offering consumers the opportunity to... read more

Universal is testing offering music downloads without DRM. The label admits these are “some micro tests” which do not indicate immediate change of policy. Indeed, only one album by a French artist Emilie Simon has been made available only in France. The cost of the DRM-free album is €9.99.

Similar tests by EMI last year had been very short and did not lead to any changes in the label’s business model.

Other labels haven’t even yet allowed a possibility of DRM free music downloads.


Read more:
Universal begins DRM-free downloads trial, PC Pro

Yesterday Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive posted an open letter on the company’s site in which he defended Apple and put all the blame for the inefficient DRM system on labels.

Jobs denies that Apple tries to lock customers who bought iPods into using the iTunes store and hasn’t been using its DRM system for that purpose. He argues that on average there’s 22 songs purchased from the iTunes for each iPod ever sold. However, average iPod now holds around 1000 songs. Thus users are not being locked into the iTunes store as 97% of their music comes from elsewhere.

Moreover, Apple sees abolishing DRM as a way forward as neither the current situation with many proprietary music stores nor opening its FairPlay standard will work. “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.... read more

The Norwegian consumer ombudsman ruled this week that Apple violates consumer protection laws because songs from the iTunes store can only be played on iPods.

The issue should be resolved by 10 October 2007. Apple might open its code to other producers; abandon DRM or jointly develop some new protection system. If the company doesn’t find a solution then the issue will be taken to court with a possibility of closure of the service in Norway altogether.

Some European countries might follow Norway in this action against Apple (Germany, France, Sweden and Finland). The Dutch ombudsman has already “… lodged a complaint not only with the newly formed Dutch Consumer Authority (ConsumentenAutoriteit), which will act as the enforcer of 15 European consumer protection directives, but also with the Dutch anti-trust agency”. (The Register)

Apple responded that it’s “…aware of the concerns … and hopes that... read more

At the beginning of December a Swedish ISP decided to block its users in Sweden and Denmark  from accessing AllofMP3.com.

This move received a fair amount of criticism as the Perspektiv Bredband ISP admitted it was a moral and not a legal standpoint.

As a part of a protest campaign against such moral Internet censorship by ISPs Piratebay in turn blocked Perspektiv Bredband customers from accessing the PirateBay BitTorrent tracker.

A week later Perspektiv Bredband had reversed its decision and opened access to AllofMP3.com.

“We made a hasty decision and we withdrew from our mission. We are sorry about this. Together with our new chairman of the board, the management agrees that limiting Internet access is not within the framework of our business,” said Fredrik Winbladh, President of Perspektiv Bredband.


Read more:
Swedish ISP Unblocks... read more

The Australian parliament has passed a new law on copyright. The legislation had been revised as the government decided it was out of date.

Among other changes the law will legalize copying of CDs to MP3 players (provided it’s done for private use). As Attorney General Philip Ruddock put it: "It will legalise format shifting of materials such as music, newspapers, books, meaning that people can put their CD collection onto iPods or mp3 players".(The Age) On the other hand penalties for large scale commercial piracy will be toughened.

This law will come into effect when it receives royal approval. That is likely to happen before Christmas.

New law makes iPod use legal, The Age