Would You Pay More For DRM-Free Music?
Just a moment of reverent quiet for Steve Jobs…
Seriously, be quiet and pretend to pray or somethin’ for a minute, ’cause this is important, foo’…
Years ago, Steve Jobs was a hard bargainer with the record companies. He insisted on 99 cents a song. He’d go no higher. I thought he was pretty smart back then keeping it less than a buck. I wasn’t willing to buy the songs on iTunes (with a few iTunes-exclusive exceptions) because of the DRM. It didn’t let me play the songs on my Treo, so I wasn’t going to shell out the money, however inconsequential, for music that wouldn’t work on my phone.
Fast forward to 2007, iTunes is dominating the industry. Steve is finally willing to let the record companies charge you a little more for each song. What do you get in return? NO DRM. You can play your song on your iPod, your Treo, your Zune, your Zen or any other player you have out there. Now that 99 cent stubbornness seems like perfect and unrelenting genius to me.
You can find out more here:
You can already buy non-DRM tunes from EMI for thirty cents more than DRM-crippled tunes. I have a stockpile of iTunes cards saved up for when the Beatles finally acquiesce and join the EMI family on iTunes. I’m hoping I don’t have to wait too long.
Don’t forget that you already have some DRM-Free alternatives out there (even legal ones). eMusic.com, Grooveshark.com and We7.com are a few examples. It’s a crazy new world we live in.
Comment by Steve S — May 8, 2007 @ 1:50 pm