Replace Your Music....Again 538
sethadam1 writes "I was not at all surprised to find that experts are predicting the death of the compact disc in as little as 5 years. This article over at Ananova suggests the next format of music will be little fingernail-sized cards. As cool as these sound, is anyone else worried that sneaky industry folks might try to distribute all new music in DRM'ed WMA files?" Yeah, this description sounds basically like bigger Magic Gate, that wonderful situation where you can pay more than normal to get DRM. Update: 11/13 16:45 GMT by H : As RobertB-DC pointed, this is sort of a dupe - see our previous article.
No thanks (Score:2, Insightful)
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Jeez, maybe Hemos should RTFA before posting.
wierd dimensions (Score:5, Insightful)
Scientists say each paper-thin device could store more than a gigabyte of information - equivalent to 1,000 high quality images - in one cubic centimetre of space.
So they are fingertip sized, paper thin, and a cubic centimeter? I'm having trouble forming a mental image of this...
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
It's their buisness (Score:5, Insightful)
It really was only a matter of time before a new format with one or two new features (and a few glaring flaws to be fixed in the next format) would be introduced as the replacement to the compact disc.
Yeah right... (Score:2, Insightful)
Shortsighted (Score:5, Insightful)
Five years is bull, read the article (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds good but (Score:2, Insightful)
That's Awe-some! (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't we already have this? They're called Hit-Clips by Tiger and they look like they suck.
I don't see how the *new, Improved version* for adults is going to be any better.
I think the future of music is that artists will actually come to your house and play, as that is the only way the record company execs will be able to get their kids solid-gold braces.
Launching way OT, remeber that promotion that Master Card was running where they show the record industry intern make his way up the ladder to exec, where he has a fur coat, a private helicopter, and a stripper on each arm? Priceless.
Re:DRM is a *feature* (Score:3, Insightful)
The one which is wheeled out whenever freedom is being threatened, such as cctv, id cards, drug tests at work etc etc?
Re:Fingernail sized cards? I doubt it (Score:5, Insightful)
But, I agree with the parent, the big future is distribution. Of course, that is what everyone is talking about now- creating a new method to download music.
What the music is stored on will be secondary. Some people will put it on a hard-drive, some on Compact Flash, some will burn CD's.
The CD/DVD media is not too bad, but carrying around an entire CD for just one album sucks. More CD players will be able to play MP3/WMA/(insert your favorite codec here).
Who cares what the music will be stored on in retail stores- nobody will be getting their music there in 5 years anyway.
Re:DRM is a *feature* (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, I know the spirit of this post, but... Actual consumers cherish "fair use." IMHO, no DRM should interfere with fair use.
I should be able to make as many copies as I feel like on as any devices as I own. That is fair use. If the producers want to prevent infringing uses like Internet swapping, it is their responsibility to do it in such as way as to not interfere with fair use.
I am a solid IP and "rights of the copyright owner" supporter, but I am just as strong a fair use supporter. I will boycott anything that stops my fair use rights.
Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
There's absolutely no need to sell new fingernail sized cards that replace CDs, when they can just distribute over the internet. If anyone needs to carry around their music, then they can just buy memory cards and move their music around on those.
And on another point, if they start selling fingernail sized cards, are they still going to package them in CD size boxes and waste more space than they have to?
Re:DRM is a *feature* (Score:2, Insightful)
DRM is a feature, all right. For the media producers. It does not add value to the final user, therefore it is not a feature for her. It's merely a characteristic.
On the other hand, if the DRM on the Flash chip meant that if end-user's copy is somehow corrupted, she can go to the music store and have it replaced without having to spend her money to buy it over again, then it would be a feature.
As it stands, DRM in digital media are only good for headaches when one tries to store personal backup data. That and the fact that I can't send my European cousins a gift DVD because of region-code incompatibilities. Feature, all right.
Except (Score:5, Insightful)
I noticed that when, for awhile, they tried to do this exact same thing under the name "Enhanced CD-ROM", it was more or less a commercial flop..
The Future is Media-less (Score:2, Insightful)
The concept of music has jumped the physical barrier of having to be stored in one determined medium. Now the medium is no longer important as it can and should be distributed to all types of medium without restrictions. How this affects artists rights, it is the same old debate...
Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Shipping music? (Score:2, Insightful)
Where have these guys been?
Headlines suck, this one too (Score:4, Insightful)
1) Will it sell?
2) Can it stop unauthorized copying?
I'm sure record companies are eyeballing many potential storage technologies to replace CDs. But the article doesn't give one good reason why these chips will be tha annointed one.
Re:Why not ? (Score:2, Insightful)
Why not just create CD players with proprietary audio-out jacks that aren't compatible with computers.
.. but are compatible with standard stereo equipment? Please explain how you would accomplish this feat.
Lessons in reality (Score:5, Insightful)
* Floppy Disk - lots of stuff got tried, it all got hacked.
* Hard Disks - lots of stuff got tried, it all got hacked.
* Removable Media - lots of stuff got tried, it all got hacked.
* CDs/DVDs - Still trying lots of stuff, it all got hacked.
* Removable RAM/ROM storage - been around forever, and for the most part has mostly been hacked.
* paper thin thumbnail size media - stuff will get tried, it will get hacked.
You would think in 30-40 years of computer technology that someone would figure out it's next to impossible to secure digital information FROM BEING DUPLICATED.
The paper thin, thumbnail media is cool. DRM is a waste of time and money.
How Many Times Again (Score:4, Insightful)
Now think about this for awhile. When you buy a piece of prerecorded media, the cost is going two ways. Some is going on stuff that you can do for yourself {i.e. writing to media and assorted logistical matters}, and some is going on stuff you can't {i.e. singing the song in the first place -- well, you could do that, but I'm assuming you want to hear it as performed by the original group}.
We should contact our representatives and push for a new law: Non-Discriminatory Licencing. The gist is, if the group has licenced the record label to sell the music on their media in return for a certain fee paid to the group, then anyone should be licenced under the same agreement to make one copy of the music for the same fee. Furthermore, anyone distributing the content to third parties must make said third parties aware of the fact that they have a right to make copies conditional on payment of a fee, the amount to send and who to send it to.
Fair enough, it won't stop anyone copying without paying; but I think there are many people who would pay a nominal fee in return for not being criminalised, and I don't see for one instant what difference it makes whether or not I involve the record labels, as long as the artist gets their money. Record labels are just middlemen - and expensive ones at that. Everyone likes to miss out the middleman if they can.
Traditional deal: I pay 14.99 for prerecorded CD, record co. takes 14.00, artist gets 0.99 {note these figures may not be strictly accurate as I don't know for certain how much of the purchase price of a CD goes to the artist}
Under NDL: I pay 0.20 for blank CD, 0.02 for electricity, 0.99 to artist, artist gets 0.99.
If I wanted to sell the media I had recorded, or offer the files for paid download, I - not the eventual recipient - would be responsible for paying the artist's fee, and the law should not allow me to disclaim such responsibility.
If anyone cares enough to comment, I'll probably write a more official-sounding spec for my NDL vision that might be better received by government types.
There won't be a next physical medium. (Score:4, Insightful)
Zilch.
After getting used to my 60 GB MP3 player (swapped drives on my laptop and Archos) and ripping all my music into my computer, I'll never get up to go swap a (tape/cd/fingernail speck) again.
There won't be a next physical medium.
Indie musicians have seen formats come and go (Score:3, Insightful)
But now, if they have these little polymer chips, it should be of almost no cost to the musician. Anyone else follow my thinking?
It seems to me what you're hinting at is a future of music without the middle man (i.e. record labels) if artists are able to produce at low or no cost the music they make. Except that artists can do that now, via mp3s or some other form of electronic file distribution, or do as you did by burning their music onto CD-Rs. The real issue isn't so much the cost of the manufacturing as it is the necessity of the record label for purposes of distribution if an artist has "big dreams."
Independent music has thrived through vinyl, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, and mp3s, I doubt a new media format will change the nature of the industry significantly.
Not enough reason to switch (Score:5, Insightful)
When cassettes came along, they offered an advantage that appealed to customers: they were small enough to take with you.
CD's offered improved sound quality and much better ease of use (no more fast forwarding, rewinding, or turning the media over to hear the rest). They also avoid the glitches or pops that other media develop under normal wear and tear - CD's only scratch from mishandling, not from the laser wearing them out. These advantages allowed them to overcome their (artificially) higher price and initial read-only limitation
Other media have been proposed but not caught on. 8 tracks briefly flourished, but offered no advantages over a cassette tape, yet were bulkier and more annoying to use. Mini-discs offer only small size, which isn't enough. Audio DVD's have improved sound compared to CD, but this hasn't proven sufficient reason for anyone but an audiophile niche to take much interest.
On the other hand, MP3 has slightly lower sound quality than a CD, but has gained widespread acceptance, much to the RIAA's chagrin. Ease of use surpasses even the CD, and the portability problem has been solved - a person's entire music collection can fit into their pocket, or listened to across a (high bandwidth) network with no physical media at all. A bonus for the user is the upgrade path. Rather than it being easier for the user to buy all the music they already legally own/license/whatever over again, a CD ripper is all that is needed to move your previous investment into the modern times.
In this landscape, where does this new format fit in? What does it bring to the table that would compel joe user to embrace it at all, much less buy all his existing music over again? Sure, it's small, but not as small as an MP3. Manufacturers might bump the audio quality up to THX level, but that would only give a benefit to those who have both a discerning ear and high end audio equipment. Price could be dropped to entice people to switch, but the RIAA isn't that intelligent. Extras and bonus materials could be offered, a la the DVD, but that would take a lot of work from the publisher and probably be passed on as a higher price, further stacking the odds against acceptance.
In short, I don't see what advantage this would offer would be that is compelling enough to get anyone to adopt it.
Re:Quality increase (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)
If they released everything in MP3, then people would complain there is no way to get the high quality you get with a CD. If they use another format, people will complain it's not mp3.
God forbid they use a DRM crippled format... just what consumers want - to pay more for our content (because of encryption licensing fees) and pay more for our playback devices (because of decryption licensing fees). The injury is that it's crippled, the insult is that you have to pay more for it to be crippled.
No, just keep giving me plain CDs, for now, thanks.
Re:Indy Musicians (Score:3, Insightful)
My hypothesis is that if the record labels alienate the general public past a certain point, there will be a huge shift in the pop culture surrounding music in America. (They have assuredly alienated the adjective public which represents geeks, nerds, struggling musicians, people who understand the problem, etc., pick your adjective.)
When your average teenager has enough angst for the record labels that he would rather not listen than buy the CD (rather than the current situation - download for free rather than pay) I opine that there will then be sufficient motive for a real shift in what defines success in popular music. When big label music becomes out of style simply for being produced by big labels, popular music in America will become a localized, fan-driven industry that will probably produce less revenue overall but it won't be unreasonable to expect a pay increase for the artists.
We (the public) have already shown that downloading music is a tried and true popular method of distributing music. Downloading music for free only hurts the people who intend to make money off of the sale of CDs, let's be honest about it. Bands that made their fortune off of playing live (Phish, Grateful Dead, to a lesser extent the industry rebelling Pearl Jam, Black Crows, etc.) would LOVE to have their music distributed for free. It establishes a fan base in towns that the band has never visited. When the band rolls in for a show, instead of starting from scratch and selling seats based on hype, they already have a captive audience that knows the music, knows the band's image, and (in 98% of America where there isn't anything to do on the weekends) would love to drop $15-50 to see the band perform live.
So the business model would be similar to bands in college towns. The band proves itself as an onstage act and builds some local following in the local college town. They would probably be wise to identify themselves with that town ("Represent the LBC", mention the school's football team in a song, write a poetic lyric about the human experience in Appalachia, whatever) which then gives the original local fanbase a feeling of investment in the band. "I remember when they were just starting out, and that hit song is about the bar we used to hang out at together."
As they become a success in one area, distribute the music as far and as wide as possible, facilitated in no small part by the internet. For God's sake, force people to download and listen to your music if you can. Then expand your area of influence to a 50, 250, 500 mile radius. Before you know it, you'll be able to fill a venue more admirable than a bar, charge more for tickets, subsidize the production of CDs which you can sell at shows.
The bottom line is that by starting locally and using the internet as a publicity tool, it will be possible to build a career in popular music without any record company's interference. Some bands have already done this and it's really not a revolutionary idea, but the key to it becoming more widespread is big label music. The audience isn't very receptive to bands like this when Britney Spears is the latest and greatest thing on MTV. Once the RIAA really screws with everyone, people will rediscover the greatness of paying artists directly by going to local shows. The groups that seize that opportunity will come out on top.
Re:Fingernail-sized cards? (Score:2, Insightful)
1. CDs are pervasive. You can use them at home, in your car, in portable devices. They crossed the "good enough" threshold for the mainstream (America and other countries included).
2. Form factor. Please, don't try to tell me that a form factor much smaller than a memory stick is reasonable. The memory stick would be a nearly ideal form factor, IHMO. Consider trying to put a squarish card into a car audio player; you'd likely need an eject mechamism like for CompactFlash. The longer, narrower format of the memory stick would allow for easy insertion and removal of the media, and it's not *quite* so easy to lose as one of the smaller cards or this fingernail size they're talking about in the article.
3. People are getting upgrade annoyance. It's bad enough with computers, but with the installed base of CD/DVD players out there and the compatability of the CDs between the computer and home/car audio systems, the amount of equipment to upgrade is prohibitive. Hmmm, okay, this is closely related to #1, but the main point was people getting tired of obsoleting equipment.
Let's just see them try to stop selling CDs in five or even ten years. Assuming they don't like declining revenues and profits, they won't get rid of CDs -- DRM or no DRM.
- Leo
Re:Benefit of the upgrade (Score:3, Insightful)
Granted, I wouldn't see the underground metal genre (don't judge my musical tastes by my username, as I've been using it for 5+ years) as being the earliest to adopt the new technology, but I don't want to see a new format until it's a tangible gain in terms of both technological benefits and cost.
Re:What? (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't worry. This will all play out and it'll eventually end up fine. Makers of music playing devices have given consumers what they want (MP3 players) in spite of RIAA's fight against it. When the MP3 boom got big the audiophiles revolted and started using OGG and FLAC. Now Rio is coming out with a new player that supports both OGG and FLAC (of course in addition to MP3/WMA).
Beside all of that, at some point the digital bits must be converted into an analog line signal. That's when you take it and plug it into the line in jack on your computer and click record. There are probably at least a good number of you out there who work with professional sound mixing boards and you know how universal the jacks and signals we work with are. XLR, RCA, 1/4 in, 8mm, none of these jacks are going away any time soon.
I don't care how it's distributed. If it can be heard it can be recorded.
CDs are the last of their kind (Score:3, Insightful)
A little over two years ago, I bought a satellite receiver with a built-in PVR. At the time, I had plans to buy a DVD player, but never got around to doing so. I don't have a DVD player, (well, my computer has a DVD burner, but I've never watched a movie on it,) and don't miss it. Why? Because I find that the electronic distribution of movies and TV shows directly to my PVR's hard drive is superior to renting DVDs.
There are restrictions, of course. My aging PVR only holds 30 hours of video, which rules out long-term archives. I have to program what I want recorded ahead of time, etc. However, as technology advances, these restrictions will go away. All that is needed is increased storage space, faster transfers, and some sort of ability to network PVRs together. All of those things can be accomplished today by enthusiastic home-brewers, and can be reasonably expected to show up at Costco before the decades out.
In my picture of the home of the future, there will be a large raid array of hard drives somewhere in the basement between the furnace and the hot water heater. It will be wirelessly accessed by various devices throughout the house, such as audio players, televisions, cameras, scanners, etc.
The important part is that no one will have to make two trips to BlockBuster for every movie they want to watch!
Re:Lessons in reality (Score:1, Insightful)
People won't tolerate that kind of lag time anymore I think. Look how quickly DVD burners came out by comparison. Still took a few years, but nowhere near as long as CD burners.
Diminishing returns on diminishing size (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe if the plan were to distribute the files electronically and have them stored in bulk on one of these things the way you'd use a flash drive, but a fingernail sized format as the primary physical medium of music distribution? How on earth would these things be packaged and stored? We could have miniature jewel cases for them, or little binders, but what about the labels? How would you fit "The Mighty Mighty Bostones: More Noise and Other Disturbances" or "Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Movement 2, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach"? And what about track listings?
Can you imagine having an Altoids tin of tiny little chips labelled with teensy-tiny ittie-bitty text, and trying to find the album you want to pop into your portable music player, while standing in a subway car or say, while driving? Can you imagine how easy it would be to lose one of these things or swear profusely as a strong gust of wind just blows them out of your car window into a fluttering confetti of $10 albums?
I'd much rather see larger-sized storage mediums with greater capacity and do away with physical distribution of music altogether.
Controlling the Marketplace and the Phoenix Phenom (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What? (Score:3, Insightful)
If the music companies business models are failing, that's not my fault, nor is it my problem. If they keep raising prices, they are only going to encourage more copyright infringement - they need to change their business models or they will fail, but it will not be the end of music, it will only be an adjustment.
As I pointed out, DRM technologies may not restrict you, but they have restricted me in the past, and I refuse to pay for them. That linux doesn't play your records or tapes is a red-herring because we're not talking about analog formats, are we? Neither windows nor MacOS will play them either.
I also "just want to be able to pay for music, listen to it, and know that the money went to the artist being able to EAT FOOD so maybe they'll be alive to make more music." I don't believe that DRM is necessary to make that happen, and I don't believe I should have to pay for it.
Let me put it this way: the record companies make a certain amount of profit. If they add DRM, they are doing that for their benefit, not mine. It should come out of their profits, but that's NOT the way it's playing out.
Re:Cassette Tapes Rule (Score:1, Insightful)