Forbes: Online Music Will Stay Protected

Forbes media reporter Louis Hau notes that just because EMI and Apple dropped digital rights management (DRM) from their online music catalogs, it doesn’t mean that other companies will follow suit.

We don’t expect the other three labels to drop DRM tomorrow morning. But of course the other labels are going to complain about this.

For example: “Meanwhile Apple’s online music competitors are arguing that dropping DRM could actually make buying online music even more complicated than it already is.” The weak reason the labels give is that now Apple will have to have two prices for songs (99 cents and $1.29) instead of one.

Give us a break. As Hau points out, current music subscription services by other companies are extremely difficult to use. You can’t move the music to your phone or portable player except in extremely limited (and in the case of phones, often expensive) cases. They often don’t work right either, but that’s another story.

It’s only a matter of time before we can move legally purchased music to our cellphones, our cars, or the portable MP3 players of our choice.

Why Online Music Will Stay Locked Up [Forbes]

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