DRM-Free Music is a Welcome Release From Restrictions

DRM restricts downloaded songs’ playability

     In the old days, stealing music literally meant walking into a store and walking out with an album hidden away somewhere. These days, however, in the digital age, songs are much more easily ripped from CDs or shared on the internet. That is where Digital Rights Management comes into play. DRM is a collection of technologies that protect digital music from being copied or shared. It is meant to ensure that the musicians, producers, and the record company involved receive payment for the music that consumers enjoy. When a track is shared illegally for free, those people do not get paid and have had their work “stolen.”

DRM helps producers get paid, while DRM-free helps everyone

     DRM covers both digital music on CDs and music files downloaded through iTunes and other online music stores.  On CDs, it consists of security codes that block the CD from being copied; once the CD has left the manufacturer, though, those security codes are quickly cracked.  This is why DRM focuses more on music stores online.  Many stores in recent years have sold tracks that have DRM; for instance on iTunes, tracks could only be played on up to 4 computers.  On other stores, the number of times a song can be played or the types of devices allowed were restricted.  Now, however, the trend is for music stores to go DRM-free.  iTunes transitioned in 2009, and they have now joined the ranks of Amazon and other large stores that offer unrestricted access for a slightly higher price.  This model helps both the producer and consumer, since the producer gets paid and the consumer doesn’t have as many restrictions.

Personally, DRM isn’t a technical problem, but a personal freedom issue

I’m a big fan of owning a physical copy of the latest CD from my favorite bands (and I’m a proud minority on that front!). In fact, just this morning, I went to Best Buy and picked up Green Day’s album, ¡Uno!, which was released today.  For artists I’m not as hugely into though, I use Amazon Music. Amazon offers DRM-free mp3 files for $0.79 to $0.99. I used to use iTunes, but once I learned about the restrictions and that they use the AAC file format, I transitioned to Amazon.  To me, DRM doesn’t impact me too much; I just put the mp3s in my library and on my phone which are both accepted uses of DRM songs.  It is more of a personal issue with having restrictions on my music. I would rather have options rather than being told that I cannot do certain things with music I paid for.

Keeping Current with Digital Currency

     In the digital age, bombardment is a key word.  When a band is forming, they are bombarded with options for connecting with listeners around the world, and, when they embrace the majority of those options, they bombard their contacts with information about their band.  As Peter Parker says, “With power comes great responsibility,” and new emerging bands should learn to use their newfound options in a way that balances making their group known and pushing away the very people they want to reach. 

     

     The way I find new music groups usually follows the following pattern:  I see a friend post a Youtube video of a band’s song on Facebook and I like the song, so I’ll check out their Youtube page.  Then I’ll like them on Facebook to support them.  The first few posts I see, I’m interested in learning about what the group is doing, but after a while, their posts from all sorts of different websites begin to clog my News Feed and I get tired of hearing from them, so I unlike their page. 

   

     In effect, the band shot themselves in the foot by communicating too much; they lost a fan in their effort to gain more fans.  Now, some true diehard fans might put up with the inundation of postings from SoundCloud, Youtube, Instagram, and many other websites, but a new fan still testing the waters might be put off by the space it takes up on their News Feed, in their inbox, or on whatever medium they registered with the band.

     

     This same idea can be applied to how a new band distributes their music.  Someone who is still discovering the band or isn’t a devoted fan yet may be nervous about investing real money to listen to a new track to band puts out.  I know personally, if the only way I was going to hear a new song by a new band was to pay a dollar, my response would be, “Welp, looks like I’m not listening to the song then..” There is an answer for bands in this situation, however. On sites like Bandcamp.com, listeners can Share a post about the band, tweet, or input an email address to earn an mp3 of the new song. This system still allows the listener to give the band a tangible currency, albeit exposure as opposed to cold hard cash.  The band can still make money off of concerts and album sales, but, in order to draw more people in, I think digital exposure is the way to go.

     One band that started off by trading for exposure is Northern Lights, a country band based out of Indiana. I first heard about the band by meeting the lead singer on an airplane, who happens to be 2008 Olympic diver Thomas Finchum.  We've stayed in contact and I’ve watched his band grow over the last two years.  They initially offered their tracks on their website in exchange for a Facebook post, and now they’ve successfully made the move to releasing songs on iTunes and are working on an album. 

As with Northern Lights, this marketing strategy works.  I wasn’t scared away from listening because I had to pay real money, and the band does not “blow up” my News Feed with posts about the band.  They are the Goldilocks of how a music act should handle themselves digitally, not too overwhelming, not too quiet, but just right.

     

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