This is a geek culture blog. It’s specifically here for me to blow off steam when I’m sick of writing tech-biz-gadget stories. So I frequently excuse myself from weighing in on hot-button topics like DRM. I’m going to do that again by linking to this fine analysis of the Apple-EMI announcement yesterday by the competition at Newsweek.
Dropping DRM is great. I think the mere fact that Apple is coming out and demonstrating that it’s not a technological issue for iTunes to sell non-DRMed music is great. The idea of linking DRM to higher-quality files — somehow implying that having your music be DRM-free is a “perk,” like higher fidelity, that you pay more for — is gross, but I’m pretty sure this still counts as progress. I have not always been an exemplary respecter of artists’ property rights in my management of my own music collection. But I mostly have been, and I don’t think that makes me a hypocrite for believing that the user experience will get way better — and the music business will grow — when digital music distributors drop DRM.
There. All done. Back to being a dork.