« The Newest Celebrity Trend | Main | Sock it To Me! »
November 21, 2006
Renting vs. Owning
Microsoft has released its version of the iPod, a device with the odd name of "Zune." Seems songs purchased for use on the Zune (egads, what a crappy name) use a different form of Digital Rights Management than songs purchased on iTunes, and people are upset about that.
Fred Benenson spent a recent drizzly Saturday afternoon with friends in Manhattan wearing yellow hazmat suits. They were in front of the new Apple store on Fifth Avenue, distributing flyers and explaining to passersby why iTunes, Apple’s online music store, “sucks.” The target of their ire: a technology the recording and film industries call “Digital Rights Management.”Oh, you poor dears. I have a solution for you.DRM, as it’s known, is encoded onto downloadable digital content so that copyright owners can prevent piracy. But it also prevents people from transferring downloaded content as they might like. Since different companies use different DRM technologies, an iTunes-bought song can’t be moved to a Zune, Microsoft’s new answer to the iPod, or even e-mailed to a friend. Since the vast majority of online music is sold on iTunes, “Apple has a stranglehold,” says Benenson, 23, a graduate student at New York University’s interactive telecommunications program. “There are some musicians who I like who will only offer music on the iTunes store.”
Quit whining, and pick a side. These are probably the same folks upset that they can't find a player to watch their cool Betamax tapes or listen to their high-quality 8-track cartridges. The marketplace is not fair, and so far, Apple is winning because they've got the better strategy. People want to own their music, not rent it.
I have an iPod. I know that the iPod will only play songs with the .m4p or .mp3 designation. The .m4p files are ones purchased from iTunes, the .mp3 are those I took from CDs I own or music I purchased from All of Mp3.com. What's important to me, though, is that I own the music. Completely. Sure, I can only use it on a limited number of computers, but iTunes does not have the right to take the song away or make it unreadable if I stop paying a monthly fee.
For some excellent anti-Zune, anti-Microsoft arguments, visit this site. The simple fact of the matter is that the Gates Borg was late to the party - years late - and now they're trying to make up for lost time with an inferior product.
I agree with a lot of what that blogger says, but am not willing to let Apple completely off the hook for their own stupidity at times. In iTunes, there are still "Album Only" songs that cannot be purchased individually. That's a strategy doomed for failure, as it will only drive people into the arms of the file-sharing services. People go to iTunes because they want to do the right thing - purchase music by the song. The 'album only' nonsense is short-sighted and counterproductive.
My prediction on the iPod versus Zune? The Zune is going to be a failure, for the simple reason that its DRM software doesn't allow people to own their own music. It gives too much control to the record companies, and not enough to the people that keep those companies in business.
Posted by slublog at November 21, 2006 12:00 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.slublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2746
Comments
I believe the Zune allows you to either purchase (own) or subscribe (where you have access to the music).
I think it will catch up to the iPod, but slowly over the next couple years.
Posted by: Dex at November 21, 2006 12:16 AM
I believe there are no frill's MP3 players that will play MP3's.
I think my brother bought my sister an inexpensive mp3 player, that came with software that will convert any wav or mp3 into it's chosen format years ago. I will screw with it next time I visit him to make sure, but I'm almost possitive that there are MP3 players that play the mp3 format, or come with software that converts it to theirs.
why fight over it? Fuggem both.
Posted by: Wickedpinto at November 21, 2006 03:42 AM
I use Goldwave to do my mp3 conversion. If I really want to transfer a song from m4p to mp3, I just burn a few onto a cd and rip them as mp3s.
Posted by: Slublog at November 21, 2006 08:31 AM
Yeah I recently went to MSM Music to get some songs, and found out that I can't. They wanna redirect me to Zune.
Maybe I'm on the fringe or whatever, but I don't have an iPod. I have the Dell Digital Jukebox, which doesn't have a color LCD or fancy trackball scroller thingie or cool TV commercials. All it does is store and play back music. No bells no whistles, just music. I guess that's too simple a concept to live forever.
I guess Apple and the devil Microsoft want us to buy the whole thing- Zune/iPod, subscription service, special armband carrier and earbuds, software downloads, on and on and on. I just want to download songs to my DJ and listen to them. Too much to ask for in the long run, I guess.
Bastardo!
Posted by: Barry at November 21, 2006 10:20 PM