[mythtv-users] DRM Music on it's last legs - Another predictioncomes true ahead of schedule.

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Aug 10, 2007, at 9:13 AM, David Brodbeck wrote:

>
> On Aug 10, 2007, at 9:03 AM, Brad DerManouelian wrote:
>> They're going to measure it in sales. If sales go up, less people are
>> pirating.
>
> I was going to say the same thing.  The RIAA seems to have taken the
> peak in CD sales -- during the period when people were still
> replacing their LP collections -- as a sustainable sales figure, and
> assumes that any difference between that and current sales represents
> piracy.
>
> Attempts to create a new physical CD replacement format, to get
> everyone to buy all their music a third time, have pretty well
> failed.  SACD, for example, didn't catch on with anyone except
> hardcore audiophiles.

A third time? How about 5th or 6th? Case in point: Van Halen's first  
record.
I bought the vinyl when I was a kid.
I bought the Cassette when I got a walkman.
I bought the CD when I got a CD player.
I bought the re-mastered CD.
I bought the "special" re-mastered gold-colored CD (gold plays better  
than silver, right?)
Luckily, I don't think there's an SACD or DVD-A version of the record  
or I'd have to buy those, too.

Rhino Handmade (for example) has built a business solely on taking  
old records, changing the packaging, adding a couple of extra tracks  
or in some cases taking away tracks and selling it at a lower price  
and making collectors buy the same music over and over again.

The fear is that once you go to a digital file, there's no up-sell  
from there. And they're right. This is the last format you'll need.  
Finally.

I gotta tell you, I was pretty pleased when I took my Rolling Stones  
DRM-free version of Some Girls I bought on iTunes, hit "Convert to  
MP3" and it didn't complain about it. Now I can finally play it with  
my myth box and I don't have to digitize the vinyl.