DRM is Dying... Yay!!!

Just read a piece on Wired about the trend in the music industry away from DRM (Digital Rights Management). Just look at iTunes and how that has changed the music industry. Amazon now has DRM-free music as well. That means the songs you purchase are "unlocked" and can be put on as many devices and burned as many times as you like. Distribution no longer holds the power... or at least it's moving that way.

In case you missed Radiohead's album release last week... it rocked the music world. Quoting Influx Entertainment... "Radiohead delivered onto the world a complete surprise; they released an album when everyone was expecting to have to wait a year for. They announced it a few days before launch. There's no ad campaign, no PR campaign, no hype, no leaks, no listening parties, no preview issues sent out to critics and journalists. No experts listening ahead of time and writing reviews, just everyone sharing the same experience at the same time, without the noise or clutter of expert opinions in the air.

The band made the news for the pricing story, but cutting out the hype, the critics and going straight to the user the band has created a communal listening experience, that's just as revolutionary as its famed "name your own price" model."

I think the downloads reached 1.4 million on the first day. Welcome to another music revolution.