“Everyone knows the MP3 format is used by more devices and people than any other file-based digital-audio format. Most also know that record labels prefer DRMed alternatives such as the ones sold by Apple’s iTunes, because they make it harder for people to share music,” Eliot Van Buskirk writes for Wired News.
Van Buskirk writes, “But wait — was that a pig flying past my window just now? Evidence is mounting that major labels may start to prefer the MP3 format, as impossible as that used to seem.”
Van Buskirk describes seven reasons why MP3 is the future of the music industry:
1. The labels don’t have a choice
2. Apple might be forced into interoperability
3. Thomson has endorsed selling watermarked MP3s
4. Amazon is rumored to start selling MP3s by April
5. Sony: “DRMs are going to become less important”
6. People love AllofMP3.com
7. MP3 has future options
Full article here.
I’d rather use AAC – without DRM of course.
I think the guy is smoking to much of this cheap stuff…
He forgot reason no 8:
My pig is getting married!
He forgets that over 100 milion iPods have been sold and we are not going to rush to buy new players. He also forgets that Amazon can sell only so many songs to the 5 Sony Bean owners and the 2 that bought the Zune (none in brown however!).
8. People love the Pirate Bay.
DRM is here, sadly. I think Windows is a glimpse of what is to come. The OS becomes responsible for locking things down. I would imagine that Vista is going to, some day soon, scan your computer and go “Hey, I don’t think you own this. You cannot play it”.
MikeR –
There’s no need to buy new players. iPods (and all the rest) already support mp3 decoding, and watermarked mp3 support would just be a firmware update. Wouldn’t need to be built into the chip.
The iPod will win out with or without DRM. As far a DRM goes, Apple’s variety is the least obnoxious and DRM is forced on them by the music companies, not the other way around. With such a huge market share, Apple can keep costs down by designing custom chips to do more, do it faster and at lower cost than the competition. As long as Apple does not rest on its laurels, the iPod will remain the champion.
No Take on this one, MDN? What’s your opinion?
I would personally prefer AAC over MP3 any day. Maybe it’s just me drinking the koolaid, but MP3 is a slowly-dying format. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but I was taught that 4 came _after_ 3, so MP4 is the successor to MP3. Anybody?
“Apple’s variety is the least obnoxious and DRM is forced on them by the music companies, not the other way around.”/
Of course, there’s really no way at this time for us to know whether that’s true or not. I’d be interested to see what happens if the record labels come out with their own standard of DRM. Will Apple still keep their songs and their music players inoperable with competing services or will they embrace a universal format?
@ coolfactor
Sounds right to me.
I agree with coolfactor — now is the time to switch to MP4, which should have been what AAC was called in the first place.
I hate when people use “MP3” to mean file without DRM. That is so fucking retarded.
“A switch to the MP3 format would work with existing devices and let Apple keep control.”
Uh, dude. How about a switch to AAC without DRM?
Also, this is not a hardware issue.
Millions of reasons why AAC is the future of the music industry… Every song ever sold on iTunes, and listened to on an iPod.
How about the major record labels starting their own “iTunes like” internet stores? They can sell their own music, via mp3/4 format. Bad for the iTunes Store, but good for digital media in general.
Coolfactor, et al.
MP3 is actually MPEG 1 part 3.
MPEG 2 is used for DVD video, of course.
MPEG 3 was a standard for video teleconferencing that few consumers know about and fewer use.
MPEG 4 is the successor to these previous formats, and of course AAC, or .M4A, or .M4V, or . M4P or… are all parts of the MPEG 4 standard.
“…6. People love AllofMP3.com”
Of course they do. If they were stealing Rolex watches or Beamers and giving them away for peanuts, people would love that, too.
“Millions of reasons why AAC is the future of the music industry… Every song ever sold on iTunes, and listened to on an iPod.
Unfortunately, those songs are wrapped in a DRM package, meaning that they are not really AAC. Real’s Rhapsody does the same thing–192Kbps AAC wrapped in Real’s DRM.
The advantage, of course, is remove the DRM and you have the song–it’s not like it needs to be re-encoded into some open format.
Thanks, AjaxBruno. Your history is more comprehensive than what I was about to post.
It’s a given that other stores will push for MP3. If they are able to sell MP3s, they will instantly have access to the ipod market.
As an aspiring audio professional, I’d personally love to hear Steve say tomorrow that iTunes downloads will have the option of better quality audio downloads like aiff or even lossless. iTunes is the best music app there is, but I wish I didn’t have to sacrafice quality for ease of use.
The only reason Apple has DRM is because it would have been stipulated by the record companies before they’d sign up to iTMS. I’m sure Steve would have been happy for iTMS to be DRM free but the content providers wouldn’t allow it. Also I’m sure Apple would love to offer tracks at higher data rates than 128Kb/S but that will also be down to the music compaies too.
The music companies are the problem not Apple!
Cheers,
Tim.
realist,
Apple’s AAC DRM is the universal format. It works on both Macs and Windows machines. It is on about 80% of all legally sold tunes. You can use it on Linux machines. Not everyone can sell it but that doesn’t matter, you can’t make money selling digital music.
One other thing.
Watermarked MP3’s are not MP3’s.
We don’t fly.
Oh come on now, people, admit it: Apple’s DRM is a joke, a convenient fiction that allows the music companies to save face when they insist legal digital sales must have “some sort” of DRM.
When it comes to “DRM” for software, we’re talking serious copy-protection. Sure, people hack programs and you can find cracked versions of just about whatever you need, but hacking the protection isn’t something everyone of us can do — we need to rely on legitimate computer criminals to crack the protection and distribute the files.
Didn’t Apple have a page on their support site telling people who couldn’t figure out for themselves how to un-DRM iTunes music purchases on their own the exact steps necessary? Is it still up?
1) Burn to audio CD
2) Rip back into iTunes
You call that trollish, heavy-handed, Stalin-worthy copy protection? “Digital Rights Management” is a nice euphemism in this case. If you’re one for not paying for shareware, then “nuisanceware”-protected software is more of a hassle than iTune’s DRM is.
grok, it’s Bimmer, German you know.
I had no idea – I stand educated
There are infinite reasons why MP3’s will never be the future of the music industry.
Almost all of them have to do with audio quality and multi-channel sound.
But right at the top there is the simple fact that consumers want to own something physical (a CD/DVD/tape).
That is not an opinion. That is fact.
buy a clue.
CD sales are falling through the floor while digital music downloads are growing fast.
QED
Jake
MP3: Fine for the boom box, worthless for serious audio (sounds grainy at any compression level).
Prediction: As bandwidth and storage increase and more people incorporate music servers into their home AV setups, lossless compression will become the norm.
This article is a load. The difference between MP3 and MP4 [AAC] isn’t DRM, its quality.
Qualitatively speaking I want MPEG-2 to go away and be replaced by H.264 for all DBSes, and I want all MP3 to finally move on to MP4, with any regard for or against DRM.
Yes, please! Lossless must be the wave of the future. The post above outlining the evolution of MPEG left out one thing . . . MPEG is a lossy, compressed format (so is AIFF for that matter). It doesn’t matter which you are using, there is information being going bye-bye, and I am sick of paying for music that to my ears sounds like it came from the days of home taping (no, artificially boosting the high or low end does not a good mix make. In theory, the idea is for everything to sound good FLAT. Audiophiles will know what I mean). I want my middle range back, dammit! Come on and Peabody are onto something, I hope.
Every ACC file I’ve ever bought from the Store has promptly been burnt and re ripped into mp3. Simple so I can play them how I like. ACC may save a few kilobites but if I can’t play them on anything but an iPod they’re useless to me. It’s fine now, I love my iPod but I’m trying to future proof myself.
I have clues for sale, dimwit.
CD’s are 78% of all music sales. How is that “falling through the floor?” The other 22% include downloads, tapes, and DVDs.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070108-8571.html
You might do well to get informed.
That 78% (above) figure is a projection ten years from now.
CDs currently make up 90% of the music market. Audio DVDs are coming on strong….
I prefer WAV – full quality, no DRM. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many online stores which sell in that format. The site http://www.beatport.com is where I get most of my techno from.
The day an OS starts locking things down is the day I start pining for another OS.
Replying to “Lossless!”
Actually, AIFF is an uncompressed file format; technically better than any compressed lossless file. However, I can’t tell the difference even with a very very good sound system.
now way will i purchase any type of lossy compressed format….the only thing for me and my iPod is Applelossless or AIFF….don’t get 15000 songs on it, but i won’t do it….can tell the difference on my sound system….and no, the music i listen to is not the current crap that sells….but I do listen to classic rock…and a bunch of classical, jazz,,,,and such….i have put the songs on the iPod in a variety of different sample rates and formats…i can tell the difference…..
I would actually pay iTunes for lossless or better…..especially SACD….
The reason Mr. Morita (spelling) Mr Sony and Phillips came out with the CD format was to give us all something better than an LP….does anyone remember those….???….as with all engineering decisions, there are comprimise…..the standard CD format is great, especially when you compare it with what was available at the time….LP, pre recorded cassettes(real bad), FM…(compressed)…..AM…never a hi fi medium…..and don’t forget those really bad sounding 8 Tracks carts with all the wow and flutter…….and yes, now I am going to go way back….4 track carts…..
forgot reel to reel….
Even Sirus and XM pipe down compressed crappy sounding music….with all the technology, and they can’t get it right…all so they can cram more crappy sounding music on their satelites…
So, I will close once again, don’t mess with the standard and go back in time….
Sorry about the spelling, but I just won’t put up with this backwards thinking…and no one here should too.
Later….
> Will Apple still keep their songs and their music players inoperable with competing services or will they embrace a universal format?
Apple’s DRM format is the defacto standard. Normally, the others would be “embracing” Apple’s format through licensing, but Apple is in a uniquely advantageous position of defining the standard and telling its potential competition to “buzz off.” At some point in the future, if it is advantageous to Apple to do so, Apple will license its DRM technology and make it the “official” standard for everyone. But at this point, Apple has no compelling reason to do so. In fact, Apple’s marketshare numbers for media player and online media store are getting better, not worse. One thing is for sure… Apple will not be forced to adopt a new “universal” DRM format.
I don’t understand why everyone in the Winblows world won’t jump on the AAC bandwagon (DRM-free, of course). Higher quality, smaller file size, what’s not to like?
Duh,
People loved Napster as well as allofmp3,it was all free..MP3 is cheap, since labels and artists never see the money!
Which is why DRM is always going to be around.
How Apple is held responsible for DRM is
just proof how many idiots can use a computer.
It’s the record labels stupid. Bunch of college kids in the 90’s decided to steal billions of dollars worth of music and kids can’t understand why we need DRM.