On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:58:39 -0500<br>Matt Emmott <<a href="mailto:memmott@gmail.com">memmott@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
While this may be similar to the eleventh-hour Napster model, it is by no<br>means the original Napster free-as-in-beer model. This appears to be nothing<br>more than DRM-ed music that you can carry with you, just like Microsoft's<br>
FairPlay and the Yahoo Music Jukebox + Sansa Connect model (which I've been<br>using for years).<br><br>>From the article:<br><br>" Qtrax files contain Digital Rights Management software, allowing the<br>company to see how many times a song has been downloaded and played.<br>
Artists, record companies and publishers will be paid in proportion to the<br>popularity of their music, while also taking a cut of advertising revenues."</blockquote><div><br>I do agree that there are differences in the specifics. But my point is that the basic concept is the same. The music is free, and the revenue is generated through the ads or a subscription. The Napster "Hail Mary Pass" proposal had a very similar concept, and also included a subscription component. The only critical difference here is the DRM inclusion. It's fascinating that it's basically stripped down to a tracking system now. I know the tinfoil hat crowd will see ominous import in that, but I think the reality is far more benign. (One commenter already thinks the whole thing is a ruse to implode the free music ecosystem). I'm not advocating for any form of DRM, I hate it in any incarnation. But the truth is that the recording industry has a lot vested in it and they are going to try to find a use for it. If DRM evolves into a mechanism that allows them to track the popularity of files and allocate revenue proportionately to the artists, then it's a good thing.<br>
<br>I love James Blunt's comment in the article. God that guy is a world class asshat.<br><br>I imagine that several Qtrax clones will appear in a matter of months and competition form them will eliminate the DRM. It was competition from Wal-Mart and Amazon that caused Apple to start offering DRM-free items.<br>
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