Music Protection AKA DRM – Where are we going with this??
So… What does the music world have store for us in the near and distant future? With the ever increasing rise in availability of access to broadband Internet, the sales of music CD,s is falling dramatically each year, online sales are increasing but not nearly enough to match the loss.
Some people think that the rise in downloadable, easily transferable media is actually beneficial to the music industry because it allows people to access music they would previously have left on the shelf in the record store. If people hear something they lik eit could encourage them to attend a concert or even by the CD or full quality download from ITunes.
The major problem seems to be that companies such as Apple, Sony and Microsoft have developed their own versions of protection for their music which is only playable using the correct software or device. This seems to be a good way to segregate the music industry leaving music lovers with the difficult choice of which to choose, bearing in mind that once that decision isd made then a digital music collection is limited to use on specific player.
Apple announced last year that they would be offering unprotected music from their Itunes store at a higher cost. This type of media is compatible with any device/software which is capable of playing MP3. This seems to be the way forward but still has not introduced one year later.
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