Most people don’t care about DRM, especially since iTunes is The King. But, DRM will be an issue should Apple stop issuing DRM keys, as they’ve threatened to do in the last month according to a story on this very site. If those servers go away, then the songs won’t work. I’m actually shocked that you didn’t write an angry post to Apple for threatening to do so.(Though I don’t think Apple actually would be so cruel.)

Zune: For what it’s worth, Zune has the best music subscription model I’ve ever heard of. (In addition to their pay-per-track model) If iTunes offered one, then I’d be all over it! It’s an example of DRM being used very well – especially now that users can keep 10 songs they download per month even if they cancel their subscription (85-90% of which does NOT have DRM)! Not to mention each subscription can be legally split between 3 devices/3 accounts, so you can end up paying just $5 per month. In fact, I’d argue that Zune is now innovating more that iTunes. Too bad no one here seems to be willing to discuss to that objectively, though. :(

Yes, it IS give and take, as I’m sure you know. But, none of us here should ever assume we know what goes down in those meetings: Not me, you nor Sandoval. It’s easy to take sides with a business we love, but it is still a business – and a smart, well-run one at that. (Remember, Apple just got a patent to DRM your iPod to your clothes and labels would prefer a subscription model over Apple’s model.) We don’t know whose fault it is! Neither is innocent.

[arstechnica.com]
[news.cnet.com]

P.S. I’m too damn long-winded ;)

I’m not wed to using iTunes Store, but I do go there first because the interface is mostly better. I’ve got a few quibbles about the search function, but it’s not like amazon’s is any better. As with most things, I buy from the vendor who has best price at the time I want to buy (with the caveat that it has to be a known good vendor, not some sketchy .ru site).

If Jobs can be blamed for anything, it’s that he wants to have his cake and eat it too, in the sense that he wants the labels to both drop DRM and maintain the all-a-la-carte, all-99-cents sales model.

Thing is, I want Jobs to have that cake, as well. I don’t like Fairplay, but I am far, far warier of letting the labels price their own singles ($3 downloads, here we come!) and tell me when a massive radio hit is “Album Only.”

Backing down on those points is what it would take for Jobs to “negotiate” (Sandoval’s word) his way toward eliminating Fairplay. What does Sandoval think happens in these negotiations? Jobs throws in an all-expense-paid trip to the Bahamas to convince the labels to drop DRM? They want a giveback, and they want a big one — something we’ve all taken for granted at iTunes lo these five years. It won’t be something we’ll be happy to live without.