“Microsoft’s top lawyer has warned Apple not to complain too loudly to record labels about music copyright restrictions, saying the computer giant was already selling plenty of iPod music players,” AFP reports.
“‘I’m not a big believer in just blaming the music industry for Apple’s inability to sell every conceivable iPod,’ said Brad Smith, senior vice-president and general counsel at the US software giant. ‘I think they’re (Apple) doing pretty well from what I can tell. In fact, I think the music companies are the ones who right now are doing a little less well,'” AFP reports.
“Last week British music giant EMI said it would offer songs by Coldplay, Madonna and a host of other stars for download without copy protection, as part of a deal with Apple’s iTunes website,” AFP reports. “Mr Smith said Microsoft would be interested in similar deals for its Zune player, which made a lacklustre debut in US stores last year.”
“‘At the same time I wouldn’t go as far as Steve Jobs did and suggest that everything is the fault of the record labels,’ he said. ‘I believe that, fundamentally, people who produce content and who own the rights to that content deserve the opportunity to make their own decisions about how they want to provide that content to the public,'” AFP reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Another Irish Dude” for the heads up.]
The music labels are to blame for DRM.
Apple has demonstrated unparalleled ability to sell every conceivable iPod for over half a decade. That’s 100 million and counting, Brad.
Furthermore, Brad Smith’s comments make no sense. Smith says he’s not a believer in blaming the music industry for Apple’s “inability to sell every conceivable iPod,” but then basically says that Apple’s selling “plenty of iPods,” so who’s blaming the music industry for what, again, Brad? He’s interested in DRM-free deals with the labels for the joke that is Microsoft’s Zune, but says that the labels that own the rights deserve the opportunity to make their own decisions. That’s exactly what EMI did, Brad; EMI decided to sell DRM-free music. We guess we shouldn’t be surprised to hear a lawyer speak illogical gibberish, but what the heck is he trying to say?!
Regardless of the meaninglessness of the advice, the day Steve Jobs needs any guidance from some Microsoft mouthpiece is the day we dump our Macs and switch to Windows.
Related articles:
Microsoft: DRM-free music in Zune’s future – April 05, 2007
>BusinessWeek: Apple-backed AAC format beating Microsoft’s proprietary WMA in music standards war – April 05, 2007
Apple’s DRM-free iTunes play trumps Microsoft’s huge bet on DRM – April 02, 2007
Apple: Higher quality 256 kbps AAC DRM-free music on iTunes Store coming in May – April 02, 2007
Microsoft paints Zune pink in desperate bid to increase anemic sales – March 22, 2007
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ posts rare open letter: ‘Thoughts on Music’ – calls for DRM-free music – February 06, 2007
Buh-bye: Senior Zune exec exits Microsoft – January 31, 2007
Last quarter: Microsoft lost $289 million on Zune, CE devices – January 26, 2007
NPD: Apple iPod held 72% share of PMP market in December; Microsoft Zune had 2.8% share – January 21, 2007
RealMoney’s Comeau predicts: ‘Microsoft will kill the first Zune media player by midyear’ – December 16, 2006
Zune: Welcome to the social isolation – December 11, 2006
Thurrott reviews Microsoft Zune: ‘a joke, a travesty, I can’t imagine what they were thinking’ – November 28, 2006
Ihnatko: Microsoft Zune experience about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face – November 24, 2006
TheStreet.com: It’s not looking good for Microsoft’s Zune; bad press may taint brand for years – November 24, 2006
Microsoft’s Zune selling like snotcakes – November 15, 2006
Engadget: Microsoft’s Zune software: ‘It sucks’ – November 13, 2006
BusinessWeek: ‘By this time next year, Microsoft’s Zune will be considered a dismal failure’ – November 10, 2006
Forbes: Microsoft’s Zune stinks; like ‘Microsoft Bob,’ only more embarrassing – November 09, 2006
Thurrott on Microsoft’s Zune: ‘The makings of a disaster, what the heck are these people thinking?’ – September 29, 2006
Thanks Matrix3, I think it’s about quality too. Of course for 99 cents a track or about ten bucks for an album, the days of “it’s too expensive to buy a cd just for one song/the album is too expensive” are over. It is stealing in my opinion but these dudes can’t stop it, just like they can’t stop drugs. And as usual the people who want to do the right thing end up having to jump through hoops, the people who don’t care just find a way around all this stuff.
@ Cylon:
Yes, thats the shame of it all.
The very people who are doing the right thing are being hurt based on the misguided judgment of the music company executives.
The music executives probably don’t even listen to the music they sell.
And then there M$ who is telling the music industry – “we can help you chain your product and protect you from all those thieves out there who are stealing your product.”
And those that M$ claims they can prevent are the very ones who speend the time and money to break the DRM.
It’s the legitimate users who pay for the music that gets the raw deal.
My 2 cents.
Apparently their top lawyer is just as big of an ignorant asswipe as Gates and Ballmer.
It makes perfect sense. MS is positioning itself as the Hollywood’s best friend in “protecting” their rights, consumer be damned. Forget Zune, look at Vista. The “we’d like a DRM free deal” too is just obligatory lip service.
MS is looking for every conceivable opportunity to kiss Hollywood’s ass. It’s that simple.
What’s fascinating is how MS has wound up on the other side of the trends that made the Microsoft. The Mac is now a more open system than the PC. MS is busy make Windows a closed, DRM-enforcing system, a complete reversal of the wide-open PC architecture that made MS (and Intel) rich. For the first time they are ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY, and damn is it sweet to watch.
I only hope that Mr. Jobs, not known for embracing open systems, sees this irony and opportunity. As in let the Hackers play with Apple TV, and someday, document the damned ipod. Allowing hackers to use a screwdriver and open up the toaster doesn’t break the toaster experience for the rest of us!