Well, it’s always been on the cards, but the biggest news of the week is that Apple have finally been able to make iTunes tracks available without the Digital Rights Management that was essentially ‘watermarked’ into all previous tracks.

So you can now buy a tune from iTunes and play it on Microsoft’s Zune player or similar by SanDisk. It really took us until 2009 to get to that stage? The major labels and countless independents have been selling DRM-free tracks via Amazon for about a year, so why did they hold out on Apple?

Steve Jobs announced that EMI were willing to drop DRM back in 2007, but the rest of the majors (Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment) have held out for some unknown reason. Actually, the reason is know; it’s because majors have no idea how to move forward in this music evolution. They were unwilling to hand over DRM-free copies to iTunes because of the scale of it’s sales, fearing a loss of control and rampant, escalating piracy. They struggle to keep hold of things like DRM so that people don’t ‘steal their money’.

Here’s a thought. Will Apple’s news make much difference? The people who already buy millions of tracks from iTunes are doing so (mostly) happily and playing them on their millions of iPods and iPhones. As far as they know (or care), DRM has never been an issue. People who have wanted to download DRM-free music for their non-Apple devices have been able to find it fairly easily. Will these settled buyers bother to jump ship? Especially with the new price rises too (more on that later). The infamous Bob Lefsetz thinks the news is very much a non-issue, saying that “the only people who care about DRM don’t pay for music, they just steal it. Otherwise, Amazon would have eclipsed Apple and the Seattle company would own the online music market”.

Is it all too-little, too-late?

Lee Jarvis.

Cross-posted at our Music Jobs website in the USA

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Generally, the two don’t overlap too much – dance music wants to stay cool and ‘underground’, and major labels will dilute your work in order to sell it to the masses, right? Well recently a rare deal was struck between Sony BMG and Dutch phenomenon Don Diablo.

Already a big name in the scene (he beat Armin Van Buuren, Fedde le Grand and Tiesto in the People’s Choice DJ awards), Diablo sees the deal as a way to launch himself on an international level, as Sony BMG will be marketing and distributing his forthcoming album. A ‘fusion of electro/hip hop and rock’ album that he himself wrote, produced, engineered, and even sang on! Why would such a multi-talented musician then hand over control to anyone else, let alone a major label? Well, with only a small team working with him at the moment, Diablo knows there is not enough time to push all the avenues that he wants too, such as T-shirts and merchandise, especially as this album has taken two and a half years to get everything just as he wants it. The workforce of a major will free up his time so he can be more creative, and they will make sure all the paperwork is completed on time. Alongside Sonny BMG’s huge international presence, their financial clout may help him break through the ‘just a DJ’ barrier that he feels he’s been held back by. Diablo insists that he will keep full artistic freedom, and has plans to sign new independent acts to his own imprint, as well as future ‘DJ friendly’ EPs and a live show for a US tour.

In a statement from Diablo’s Amsterdam-based performer’s management firm, Muzikology, Sony BMG also notes that in the near future it will be “developing into a music entertainment company that offers a wider range of activities and services to artists in order to create a loyal fan base and strong artist brands”. Maybe this will change the way music contracts are structured with majors? Or at least change the way they are often viewed from artists looking to make it on a global scale without ‘selling out’.

Lee Jarvis.

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