EMIの非DRMの試み

EMIの非DRMの試み

  22:24    aki

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大手、レコードレーベルのEMIがDRM無しの楽曲提供を試しにやってみるという話。
朝一の番組で小倉さんがこの話題を取り上げていたので少々びっくりしましたが。。。

参照：Apple/EMI Press Conference Coverage [Event Over]

- From press release: $1.29 for premium tracks (DRM-less), $.99 for standard (DRM), and $.30 for upgrade

つまりは、DRM付きは99セントだけども、DRMなしは音質倍程度にしてあげるから1.29＄ちょうだいねという話になっているようです。普通に考えれば、DRMの手間ないんだから安くなるはずだと思ってしまいます。
最近は音楽プレーヤーもそうですが、HDDプレーヤーでもTVでもゲーム機でさえもMP3などの音楽ファイルを期待している環境も出てきていますので、便利っちゃー便利になると思いますが。

以下はEMIのスライド。

もう少し詳細な情報の項目は以下にまとめられてました。英語ですいませんが。

参照：gizmodo

•EMI approached Apple about DRM free tracks, not the other way around.
•EMI is cool with any other music store doing DRM-free tracks. This is not an iTunes exclusive.
•Those stores can put songs in any format they want. The iTunes premium price and AAC 256 kbps format are Apple's Marketing decision.
•One underpublicized aspect of this deal is that full albums will cost the same. That means that while LCD Soundsystem's North American Scum will cost more than a DRM'd version, the full album, Sound of Silver, that it came from will cost the same either way. Combine that with the ability to upgrade tracks into full albums, and DRM'd songs into free tracks eases the stinging a bit.
•EMI made this move based on research that showed consumers want DRM-free tracks.
•They're doing this to get a bigger stake in online music, believing that even though CDs are 90% of their sales, those figures will shrink or stay flat. They're projecting that online sales should rise to to 25% of their sales by 2010.
•That includes music sales on cellphones. That's 500-billion capable handsets, worldwide, by end of this year.
•The DRM-free tracks should, they believe improve sales: Even as piracy gets easier, so does the ability to play songs on any MP3 player available. (That is, once some other music store releases EMI tracks on MP3.)
•Although Jobs says, "We expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year.", EMI says the first of the new tracks will be on sale in May.
•EMI won't disavow RIAA lawsuits, however.

ビートルズの話が入ってませんが、非DRMの対象外といった話をどこかで見ました。
あと、項目中には、CDセールスが将来的には陰りが見えるから、こっちで生きていけるか見てみるといった内容もあります。加えて、携帯電話に搭載するのにDRM邪魔だよねとか言ってたり。
iTMS上では今年末までに半分の楽曲でDRMを取り払いたいといった予定だそうです。