more BS from the bullies : Labels Shut Out iPods
Fans angry over copy-protection software on new CDs
When Switchfoot fan Rick Maranta bought the band's new album, Nothing Is Sound, the week it came out in September, the first thing he did was try to rip it onto his computer so he could play it on his iPod. That's when Maranta, 44, like thousands of other Switchfoot fans, discovered he was out of luck.
An increasing number of major CD releases are saddled with restrictive copy protection that not only limits the number of copies of an album that can be burned but is also incompatible with Apple's iPod -- the country's most popular MP3 player by far. For now, Sony BMG's and EMI Music's labels are the only ones to release copy-protected discs -- among them are Dave Matthews Band's Stand Up and Foo Fighters' In Your Honor, along with new titles by Alicia Keys, Santana, Jermaine Dupri and Idlewild. (Universal, the world's largest label, says it opposes current protection methods; Warner Music Group would not comment on whether it will use copy protection in the future.)
Fans of Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters and Switchfoot have deluged the bands' Web sites with angry messages, and the bands have been outspoken in their disapproval as well. The DMB Web site includes detailed instructions for circumventing the copy protection; Switchfoot bassist Tim Foreman expressed his frustration in an anguished post on the band's Sony-run Web site: "It is heartbreaking to see our blood, sweat and tears over the past two years blurred by the confusion and frustration surrounding this new technology."
Why would labels release CDs that can't be heard on a device as popular as the iPod? The answer lies in a growing conflict between Apple and the music industry over the price of downloads on iTunes (the labels want to raise them) and over Apple's FairPlay copy-protection. Apple has refused to license FairPlay, the only copy-protection system compatible with the iPod, and now Sony BMG and EMI are, in effect, forcing Apple's hand by releasing incompatible discs -- despite the risk of alienating millions of iPod owners. Label sources say Apple could easily resolve the dispute by making FairPlay compatible with non-Apple devices and software. (Apple reps did not respond to interview requests.)
Many industry executives say the labels' copy-protection gambit is bad for both bands and fans. "I think it's a big mistake," says Jim Guerinot, manager of Gwen Stefani and Nine Inch Nails, both signed to Interscope, a division of Universal Music Group. "You're selling the customer less of an experience. Everybody you've convinced to use iTunes and buy an iPod now can't use the CD."
Managers for Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band and Switchfoot said their clients declined to comment for this story, and representatives for Sony BMG and EMI refused interview requests.
It's possible to overcome the new copy protection in several cumbersome ways. One way involves making a new copy of the CD with Windows Media Player, then importing the copy into iTunes. The other option is to follow a complex procedure involving the free software CDex; oddly, Sony BMG will, upon request, e-mail detailed instructions on how to crack the copy protection.
Sony BMG cites customer satisfaction as the reason for giving out the instructions. While music stores haven't reported an unusual number of returns of copy-protected CDs, it's hard to measure the lost customers. "I put all my music on my computer," says Ryan Kuczynski, 30, a Cinnaminson, New Jersey, banker who wound up not buying In Your Honor. "If I can't do that reliably, I'm not buying it. It's the kind of thing that will make me go into file-sharing and pull it down. I don't feel like jumping through hoops."
STEVE KNOPPER
(Posted Oct 12, 2005) |
