DRM is Cracking
April 3, 2007 | 1 Comment
Digital Rights Management or DRM is a concept I have always opposed. In general I feel it is expensive and complicated for vendors to sustain, while relatively simple others to break, all the while punishing consumers and paying customers. I had never really summarized my thoughts on this other than the occasional verbal tirade.
After Steve Jobs shared his thoughts against DRM last year I felt it was no longer necessary for me to chime in since he hit the nail on the head. Finally someone with the ability to influence direction of DRM today and in the future was making bold statements about why it is ridiculously broken. However, were these merely words? Was Jobs making these statements to pander to the European Union who is blocking the international expansion of the highly successful iTunes music store?
Apparently not.
Casey pointed to the huge joint announcement this week from Apple and EMI about their planned release of the entire EMI digital collection in DRM free, higher quality (256kbps) AAC files for $1.29 per song. This is a 30 cent increase that is well worth it to gain higher quality and vendor neutrality in the future. To sweeten the deal, when purchasing full albums, there will be absolutely no cost increase for DRM free music! What about those of you who have already filled your music collections with EMI music that has the Apple DRM? For a mere 30 cents, you can upgrade to the DRM-free version! This new service will launch in May.
EMI’s diverse list of artists includes: A Perfect Circle, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Chemical Brothers, Coldplay, Dandy Warhols, Gorillaz, Ben Harper, Norah Jones, KoЯn, Lenny Kravitz, Pink Floyd, Queen, Radiohead, Relient K, The Thrills, KT Tunstall, Robbie Williams, Yellowcard, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Keith Urban, etc. There are many old school artists, as well as new artists I’ve fallen in love with from Virgin Radio or idobi Radio. In short, no matter what type of music you’re into, EMI has something for you.
Hopefully EMI will see great success from this initiative. In turn, this could cause all of DRM in digital music to crumble. As the music industry succumbs to delivering more consumer friendly, flexible music, video should follow. This is good for everyone.
Since the beginning of the digital music revolution, I have reduced my music buying habits. In fact, I have bought less than 10 CDs in the last 7 years. Prior to that, I had built a CD collection in excess of 300 CDs. These have all been ripped to my iPod. Additionally, I listen to a lot of podcasts. For new music, all of this comes from internet radio. I’m looking forward to finally being comfortable purchasing music again.
Tags: A Perfect Circle, aac, apple, Ben Harper, Coldplay, Dandy Warhols, David Bowie, DRM, emi, Gorillaz, idobi radio, internet radio, Keith Urban, KoЯn, KT Tunstall, Lenny Kravitz, mpaa, music, music industry, Norah Jones, Pink Floyd, podcast, podcasts, Queen, radio, Radiohead, Relient K, riaa, Robbie Williams, steve jobs, The Beatles, The Chemical Brothers, The Rolling Stones, The Thrills, virgin radio, Yellowcard
2006 in Review: What I’ve Been Listening To
December 30, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Podcasts were a new media for me to consume this year and in turn make up a majority of what I have been listening to. I received an iPod for Christmas in 2005 allowing me to get into podcasts. Looking back at the mix of podcasts and music I have been listening to, I think it helps me with perspective about what is in my head this year.
Podcasts:
- Ricky Gervais Show - The crown jewel of comedy podcasts. Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant harass and berate Karl Pilkington, hilarity ensues. I enjoyed The Office, this led me to the podcast and now I consume all comedy that Ricky Gervais delivers (Flanimals, Extras, etc.) I am sad that this series has ended. Hopefully the trio will miss it and return soon.
- NPR Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me - I had been listening to this fairly regularly on NPR. Since it became available in podcast, I haven’t missed an episode. This is a great weekly dose of news with a funny spin. Think of it as a radio version of the Daily Show, presented as a quiz show.
- TWiT - Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, and John C Dvorak are only a handful of the regulars who look at “This Week in Tech”. This weekly discussion about all things tech is fun for any tech savvy individual with an interest in current tech topics.
- Marvel Podcast - consistently good content, though the sound quality, editing, and ability to keep the RSS working properly all count as negatives here. These lack polish in the technology department.
- Comic Geek Speak - As a Marvel only comic fan, I only listen when Marvel is the core of the discussion, but whenever something Marvel hits the show notes, I tune in. I’ve especially loved the Civil War episodes. If you are a comic fan, these guys can satisfy your need to hear and enjoy in depth conversation about events happening in comics right now. Most of us aren’t fortunate enough to have many real life comic fan counterparts to do this with…
- Never Not Funny - I would give this a 3 out of 5 on the funny scale. Not something I would ever pay to listen to, but plenty entertaining to fill a long car ride or as background while doing chores. Jimmy Pardo and Mike Schmidt could use more guests on their show to play off of. Instead, they mostly play off of their producer…
Music Podcasts:
Pub Songs Podcast
Irish and Celtic Music Podcast
Both of these are from Marc Gunn and are pretty solid. I think there is great potential in the near future for music podcasts to take off. Their ability to introduce subscribers/listeners to new and interesting music within a defined genre is greatly powerful.
Radio:
Almost exclusively I listened to idobi Radio. The constant stream of advertisement free punk kept me entertained almost all day of nearly every work day. I’d like to expand this list and find other great radio stations. If anyone knows good alternative rock, punk, celtic, or classical radio stations that are streamed at at least 128 kbs, I would love to hear about them.
Sweet Bands/Albums:
- Green Day: Bullet In A Bible - I can not even count how many times through I’ve listened to this entire CD. I don’t usually like live CDs, but the energy captured here is intoxicating. If you like Green Day, or punk in general, you must own this.
- The Bloody Irish Boys - I discovered these guys on the before mentioned Pub Songs Podcast. I just can’t get enough of their punk Irish mix of music.
- Ceann - Another Pub Songs Podcast find, this Pittsburgh based band mixes music I love with
- Ik Ben - Scott Hylbert’s band is wonderful. I cherish every track they have released.
Music Singles:
These aren’t necessarily new, but they are six selected tracks (five was too hard) I couldn’t get enough of this year. I have excluded any of the artists/albums I mentioned.
- Welcome to the Black Parade: My Chemical Romance - idobi radio introduced this to me just before it started getting insane amount of radio play. I say play away, this song is so sweet.
- Masters of the Universe: Army of Freshmen - As a lifetime He-Man fan, this song is an absolute blast.
- Blackbird: The Beatles - out of the blue I heard this Beatles song which I previously had not heard much. I’ve always liked The Beatles and it was fun to find a “new” song I love.
- Surrender: Cheap Trick - this was used in the sadly cancelled Sons and Daughters partial improv TV show. I get a bit sad when I hear this since I loved the show, but it is still awesome.
- The Suffering: Coheed and Cambria - Al introduced me to this tune. I love it so much.
- 24: Jem - this was in the Ultraviolet trailer and totally sold me on the film… until I saw the movie and hated it. Oh well, the song is still awesome.
That’s it, everything that has colored my audio landscape this calendar year. The iPod made is a banner year for audio in my house. I hope I find half as much great stuff in 2007.
Tags: 2006, audio, bullet in a bible, ceann, celtic, green day, ik ben, internet radio, irish, karl pilkington, marc gunn, music, npr, podcasts, pub songs, radio, ricky gervais, Scott Hylbert, twit
Funny British Radio Ad
January 13, 2005 | 5 Comments
I spend most my days listening to Virgin Radio broadcast out of London, UK. Lately there has been this really funny ad playing a few times a day. It sounds quite a bit like a Monty Python skit, or Douglas Adams conversation. Your basic quality british humor. Anyway, I was telling a friend about it, and then got the idea to see if I could turn it up somewhere on the net. Apparently the Radio Advertising Bureau allows you to sign up and download any of the radio ads they’ve allowed broadcast since sometime in 1998 or so. Fairly interesting and useful resource.
Check out the ad here
Tags: advertisement, british, humor, radio, virgin radio