“Apple CEO Steve Jobs is getting exactly what he asked for nearly a year ago: Industry movement away from DRM music. But the DRM freedom he wanted is looking more like DRM freedom from Apple,” Joe Wilcox writes for Microsoft Watch.
“While the DRM-free moves may be good for consumers, many labels’ have another motivation: DRM freedom from Apple. The iTunes Music store is the biggest seller of DRM music, which should be good for labels wanting to curb piracy. But as iTunes/iPod dominance has increased, labels have found themselves in an increasing Apple choke hold,” Wilcox writes.
“Apple could be in real trouble if consumers favor DRM-free content, and more of it is available everywhere else but iTunes Music Store,” Wilcox writes.
“Microsoft is perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the DRM-free movement. MP3s can be played pretty much on any device, including Windows Mobile phones or Zunes,” Wilcox writes.
“In October, I declared DRM freedom. I dumped about 2,000 iTunes tracks, replacing as many as I could with MP3s from Amazon’s music store. For Christmas, I got a new Zune; now I get subscription WMA DRM music as well. I will no longer buy DRM content,” Wilcox writes.
“MP3 stores will increase consumer choice of content and devices, which can only hurt Apple’s iTunes/iPod business model. Apple only really loses if: iTunes is denied access to choice, unprotected MP3 content; Competing music stores offer DRM subscription services that run on most other music players, but not iPod,” Wilcox writes.
“Microsoft benefits another way. Apple’s music store and music player have impeded the Windows entertainment strategy. Through music, Apple had a seemingly end-to-end lock on a crucial entertainment endpoint for PCs and CEs in the home. In 2008, Microsoft will be able to seize control again, in part because of DRM free,” Wilcox writes. “Be careful what you ask for, Mr. Jobs.”
Full article here.
It’s impossible to believe that anyone could be so obtuse, so Wilcox must have some other reason for trying to convince his readers (or maybe just himself) that Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ total evisceration of Microsoft’s proprietary WMA format is good news for Microsoft. Yeah, Joe, people are going to run out now to buy Zunes and Windows Mobile phones that cannot even come anywhere near to matching Apple’s iPods and iPhone. Dream on. iPod came before iTunes Store, Joe. It sold very well without the iTunes Store. Do the math: today just 3% of the music on iPods is from iTunes Store on average. Therefore, iTunes Store is not driving iPod and iPhone sales. As always, iPods and iPhones are driving iPod and iPhone sales.
Microsoft’s Zune answer to Apple’s iPod touch is what, exactly, Joe?
We’ll wait… Not just for Joe to make up some new nonsense, but because we’ll have to wait forever as Microsoft seems intent on poorly copying two-year-old, discontinued iPod models and releasing them as new Zunes two years later. They can’t even match the iPod classic. Apple’s nano kills the flash-based Zune. Where’s the Zune shuffle knockoff? It’s just a joke.
Microsoft’s Windows Mobile answer to Apple’s iPhone is what, exactly, Joe?
We’ll wait… Not again just for Joe to make up some more nonsense, but because Microsoft is at least 5 years behind and the best they have to offer today are bad Photoshop images of Apple’s current iPhone. This one’s not even a joke, it’s just sad.
When it come to picking who knows what they’re doing and understands what’s going on and the choice is between Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer… Puleeze. When the choice is between Steve Jobs and Joe Wilcox… Come on.
Jobs called for the end of DRM because he’s quite confident that Apple has a formidable lead and will continue to innovate. Innovation is something that Microsoft has a very difficult time achieving. Their claims to fame are an upside-down and backwards poorly-faked Mac and an Office suite that they are increasing trying to make work like Apple’s iWork. What else do they have? A money hemorrhaging, defective to the tune of billions of dollars game box that only sells because they bought a hot game company. And a failed fake iPod. And a Big Ass Table that hopes to achieve some of the things Apple has been delivering since last June in a multi-million selling pocket-sized device. And a CEO who can’t keep his fat feet out of his mouth or manage his resources effectively. He spends $7 billion a year on R&D and delivers what, exactly? His company’s ass on a platter for Apple to kick regularly? There’s an accomplishment.
Jobs wanted to drive a stake through the heart of WMA, which he’s obviously done. Jobs clearly doesn’t much care if you buy your music via iTunes Store or he wouldn’t have called for the end of music DRM. It would be nice if people did buy their music from iTunes Store, but as long as they are buying the profitable devices from Apple and not using Microsoft’s WMA and DRM, that will be fine, thanks. And, let’s face facts, iTunes Store rules the marketplace. People buy their music downloads from iTunes because it works very well, has a massive library, and the weak DRM it does have for the time being is very unobtrusive. Everything’s going according to Jobs’ plan.
People who think the iTunes Store is driving iPod and iPhone purchases are deluding themselves. People buy iPods and iPhones because the competition is hopelessly outmatched on both fronts. Again, 97% of the music in iPods today on average did not come from iTunes Store and yet, somehow, iPod manages to dominate the market. Logic, Joe. Give it a whirl someday.
Microsoft Watch. What’s that like, Joe? Watching slow motion Hindenburg footage over and over again?
Agree with MDN take except for the MS Office Comparison with Apple iWork. This is one avenue that Apple needs to work on and I’m certain they are. The proper Apple productivity software will come out soon and hopefully they dependency of office will reduce tenfold.
Oh this guy is an idiot.
If he is so smart, why didn’t he just burn the 2000 iTunes tracks from Apple to a CD and re-import DRM free?
Any more sage advice Joe? Perhaps financial advice on how to throw away good money?
Peace.
Oops – that should be CD’s. (Plural)
Peace.
Except that Subscription music has been PROVEN to be a no go. Why do people insist on pushing it. XM Radio is more popular than Subscription music.
It would be cool to see an Apple/XM partnership…….
“Microsoft’s Zune answer to Apple’s iPod touch is what, exactly, Joe?”
A really big table.
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Jobs said himself in the beginning of the iTunes Store. It’s there to encourage purchasing ipods. Apple makes it’s money from the ipods, the store was intended as a break even venture to show people the kind of content they could have on their ipod. When they come out with the movie rental business, it’s not make money on rentals, it’s to encourage the sale of Apple TV’s.
If you look at on-line video content, however, there is still too much windows DRM around. My internet provider offers “PC-TV” using it, totally locking out Mac users. Apart from a few experiments, I haven’t touched it, and am planning to ditch my ISP.
Why is it that I have so much trouble believing one word of what Joe Wilcox says?
Must be me.
Are you kidding me!
This wag dropped two grand to play his music on a $50 zune.
How can anyone take him seriously.
No iTunes Store here in Bangkok, but lots and lots of iPods. What’s a Zune?
Does this guy read what he writes ?? <<now I get subscription **WMA DRM*** music as well. I will no longer buy ***DRM*** content,” Wilcox writes.>>
…And where is Zung Fango, here?
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So rather than owning DRM content he’s tied himself into DRM content which he loses when he stops paying. How is that any better? Just because people can buy content from other stores which will now play on iPods why does that mean people will buy Zunes?
@ Lurker_PC
The guy brought a Zune, he’s an expert at wasting money by the sounds of things…
Wag doublespeak in action:
“In October, I declared DRM freedom…now I get subscription WMA DRM music…”
In other words, he dumped his non-DRMed stuff to be locked into a monthly model that’s nothing but DRM!
-hh
“In October, I declared DRM freedom. I dumped about 2,000 iTunes tracks, replacing as many as I could with MP3s from Amazon’s music store. For Christmas, I got a new Zune; now I get subscription WMA DRM music as well. I will no longer buy DRM content,” Wilcox writes.
Wow, that paragraph is it’s own self parody. Sadly I don’t think Wilcox gets his own joke.
…beware of “journalists” with forked tongues.
Can I just point out that – with so many companies now lining up to sell DRM-free MP3 – Apple will merely be disconnected from the low-margin, low-value music sales part of the system (for a group of consumers), which will leave people like Apple with the 22% margin bit (the sales of iPods) and leave the 4-6% bit to people like Amazon.
People don’t buy iPods to be tied to iTunes Store; they buy iPod because the iPod/iTunes/iTunes Store is the only fully-evolved content platform and, even where the iTS doesn’t exist, it’s still the most evolved platform.
The advent of all of these stores will (despite the unbelievable lack of Mac compatibility on nearly all of them) lead to more iPod sales being made to Windows sufferers which is still 90% of the computing market.
How this is a bad thing for Apple is a bit of a mystery?
Most consumers don’t know about or could care less about DRM. They simply want a great device that’s easy to use. The brilliance of iTunes and the Fair Play DRM is that it is almost invisible. If someone didn’t tell me about DRM I would not even know it was there. My iTunes purchase plays everywhere I need it to, on my iPod, on my Computer and on the CDs I burn and play in my car. This works the same for Windows and Mac OS users.
Wilcox is a joke, but I do think Apple needs the content and needs to play a little nicer with the providers. If you leave it to the existing players, Apple will be left standing on the sidelines. They all cater to Windoze first, Mac users will be left standing at the alter, just like NBC, BBC, Walmart, etal have done.
“…today just 3% of the music on iPods is from iTunes Store.”
I do believe that changes the longer one owns an iPod. My first iPod was a 3g, then a 5.5 with video and now a Touch. My kids get my older models. The longer I’ve used iPod the more music I’ve purchased from iTunes as I no longer buy CD’s. So as I add music from iTunes the percent of purchased songs go up. Right now I’m at about 29%: 1590 songs on my Touch, 548 purchased. The rest are from my CD collection, no songs from p2p (I promise RIAA.)
I still wonder why he “left” JupiterResearch to become the Microsoft Watch rag writer. It seems more likely that he was let go.
Being coldly objective, anything is possible. But by J.W.’s own logic, if people move away from iTMS because everything is DRM-less, then there’s also reason to believe that people are going to move away from any “establishment” sort of tech company notably MS. I think that it’s very possible that consumers are starting to grow weary of being locked into one subscription service after another for everything that we do online.
Saying the same thing another way, if people do start moving away from iTMS because of need to feel and in fact be free to buy from a plethora of online media download services without regard for the player they’ve chosen, then the last place they will gravitate toward is MS. Even people who despise Apple are clearly fed up with being beholden to MS and its myriad services and products, all of which are militantly proprietary and clearly and unapologetically aimed at gaining total control of our corporate and private lives. So if Joe Wilcox is correct about DRM-less moving the consumer away from iTMS, then for the same reason people will not move toward any MS product or service either.
Hey, If you want some laughs, go to the story and read the comments. Joe gets blasted by all by the MS fanboys.
EN
Ha Ha. I got first post on that dork’s blog.