Store Says DRM Causes 3 of 4 Support Calls 155
Carter writes "Ars Technica is reporting that Musicload, one of Europe's largest movie stores, has found that 75% of its customer support problems are caused by DRM. Users have frequent problems using the music that they have purchased, which has led Musicload to try selling independent label music without DRM. Artists choosing to abandon DRM in favor of good old-fashioned MP3 have seen 40% growth in sales since December. Good to see someone in the business both 'gets it' and is willing to do something about it."
Could be a way to protest DRM (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple iTunes (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:These Are Desired Problems (Score:0, Interesting)
Deutsche Telekom interest in DRM? (Score:3, Interesting)
T-Mobile USA won't support non-DRM'd media out of the box (for ringtones!). I think a couple executives (and a few board members) are going to have to have a conference call and try to figure out DT's position on DRM.
Re:Apple iTunes (Score:3, Interesting)
Setting up the technical and support structures for interoperability is a huge deal though, and it's not the sort of thing you can try on a limited basis, or back out of shortly after, without pissing off a lot of people and organizations who have put a lot of effort into setting up new code and new organizational structures.
On the other hand, allowing selected tracks to go DRM-free is less of a big deal. It probably requires some code changes to iTunes, and requires some legal discussions with the specific artists and their labels, but it's easy to do for a small set of tracks, and they can always back out if they want to.
So, if Apple does steadfastly refuses to take even the smallest steps towards removing DRM for a few select tracks, then that means Apple's exhortations on the downsides of DRM was either hot air, or just another chess move as part of the back-room negotiations with the music companies (along the lines of Viacom suing YouTube).
Re:These Are Desired Problems (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't buy anything with DRM. If there is DRM, I'm more likely to just get it from bit torrent or a Russian site. It will have much higher quality, too.
However, if you have good music and the money is going to you and I can get it simply via digital download, I'm all over that. I won't pay a dollar a song on iTunes and have never used that. For a buck a song, I might as well just go buy the CD and rip them myself so I don't have any DRM restrictions in the first place! But if you have unrestricted, quality MP3s available for a simple download (like Anders Manga, The Low, etc) I will gladly pay $10 or $12 an album and - quite recently - have a number of times.
I think this goes to support the growing swell of "I'm willing to pay if you're willing to give me what I want".
Re:I don't believe their data (Score:5, Interesting)
As Dick Dale said:
This is a guy that's survived a shark bite, beaten cancer, and has been supporting himself playing music since the early 60's. Anyone who tells you that you need a major label to promote your work is either ignorant or actively trying to defraud you.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Ah, but who decides an album is done? (Score:1, Interesting)
IIRC this is what happened to George Michael.
If you're in for 4 albums and the first/two is/are good but you don't fit the coming demographic they don't want to let you go but they can make more money for less with someone else. So they have you record tracks for an album. The tracks won't "work" as an album, so more have to be done. But there's problems with getting your time booked. We'll sort it out. More tracks. More criticism and "please go and do better" and more blocks on booking time.
You're still waiting for your third and fourth album so you can move on. You may even get your third one out, but you'll never get to release your 4th. You're more valuable being kept away from the competition than you cost to keep hanging on.
Re:used CDs work (Score:4, Interesting)
It's completely obnoxious in both scale and obtrusiveness, technologically speaking.
And WE get to pay for it! Don't we all feel warm and fuzzy now, knowing we're paying for people to protect themselves from us. God knows -I- can't be trusted with something as powerful as a nsync album, and I should have to pay to make sure that very complicated steps are being taken to make absolutely SURE I don't do anything dangerous with that music-like-abomination.
Re:Apple iTunes (Score:3, Interesting)
Steve Jobs has a very good reason to say that he wants to get rid of DRM... multiple european countries considering sanctioning his products here.
The guy is a major part of Disney now, and Pixar before that. He's been massively into DRM for a lot longer than just the iTunes store lifetime.