|
The Lefsetz Letter
Copy Protected CDs
by Bob Lefsetz
Why is it that the largest music group, with the most at risk. DOESN'T employ copy protection on its CDs while the company that had an almost equal market share upon merger but has slipped badly since does? It's kind of like playing the New York Yankees with ankle weights. It's gross mismanagement. I want to hear Mitch Bainwol explain away the rootkit debacle the same way his buddies in the Republican administration explain away Plamegate and the indictment of Libby. But the rootkit deal is worse, since we've already got PROOF! Sony BMG willingly, with aforethought, placed cloaked software deep inside the operating system of millions of Windows computers without informing those affected. Oh, they said there was some kind of verbiage in the license, but does every music fan now have to be a LAWYER? And what's up with the license anyway? God, if Sony BMG had its way every RADIO would come with a license, to let listeners know that they can't use what's coming over the airways willy-nilly. But back to the point. Why is it that Universal knows how to play the game and nobody else does. Why is it Universal knows it's about TEAMWORK not infighting. Why is it that Universal knows the best way to put up good numbers is to sign good acts and promote them well? Sony BMG is like the old Soviet Union. Countries united against their will with old leaders working behind the scenes to topple their enemies. The operation is run with an eye to the bottom line, with employees let go and not replaced, the team ever slimmer, not realizing that it takes a full suite of people to sign and break acts! Warner's not too much better. But the Civil War is the model. Where carpetbaggers invaded and gave the residents of the south no respect. God, at least give EMI credit for picking up Jason Flom, they now have TWO music men in charge in America, but that company is testing the waters with copy protected CDs too! Can't they see this is a losing paradigm, a mistake for a company with so little market share? Kia and Hyundai offer MORE for your money, not LESS! Copy protection fucks with the fan's bond with the artist. Which this whole business is BUILT UPON! Yup, make your CUSTOMERS mad at your ACTS! This is a good way to sell more records. And you're penalizing the people who DIDN'T steal. And the copy protection does NOTHING to solve the inherent problem. It's not even much of a speed bump. You just burn and re-rip. Not to mention all these files are on the Internet the day of the release of the album, if not sooner. The megalomania of Andy Lack is staggering. He personally thinks he can change the mind-set of MILLIONS of consumers. He's ignorant of history. He didn't look to other markets where copy protected CDs have been sold and ABANDONED! It's like Sony BMG is selling discs with the brakes on. Imagine buying a Cadillac that you couldn't drive freely. One that was always slow. One that as you sped up, gave you a warning and said no. Wouldn't you just go out and buy a BMW or Mercedes? Well, in this case Universal is the BMW/Mercedes. This is a fiasco. And someone's got to pay. And someone will, Andy Lack is going to lose his job. But if Sony BMG is smart, they'll remove all copy protection IMMEDIATELY! Realizing it's not helping them, but HURTING THEM! Bob Lefsetz, Santa Monica-based industry legend, is the author of the e-mail newsletter, "The Lefsetz Letter". Famous for being beholden to no one, and speaking the truth, Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself. His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to EVERYBODY who's in the music business. Never boring, always entertaining, Mr. Lefsetz's insights are fueled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music's American division and consultancies to major labels. While Rhino may occasionally disagree with some of Bob's opinions, we certainly agree with his right to state them. At the bottom of each column we give you, the reader, the opportunity to respond and we encourage you to do so. We will post select comments.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
A word about submissions: We post what you give us, so please don't include your email address or any personal info. Your comments reach Rhino, not necessarily the writer, so don't expect a reply from them (or us, see our help section for contact info). We gather and post your submissions in batches, so do expect a short delay. And don't get bent if we edit your comments. We probably won't, but we reserve that right.
Comments:
Most new sounds are not worth having, even for free.Rap isnt music but hate to sound, but the stuff we pay for, much of it has already made millions before SonyBMG bought out CBSetc! Just like EMI are still selling boxed opera sets at FULL price when they are, some of them 40-50 years old. They are, however, at least music!! Copy-protection means many customers cannot use the CDs they pay for on their (Sony?) equipment which is a nonsense, but here in the UK we're all waiting for the market to collapse complketely with bands and orchestras just selling downloads online while we record live gigs off-air onto our harddrives every day. Apart from your hero Bob's complete lack of linguistic ability, he is, and the industry he bemoans is, fast becoming a post-modern redundant dinosaur, but personally I justprefer LPs!
The Sony rootkit fiasco is having an effect. The other day, I was ready to buy two brand new copies of AC/DC cd's, then saw that they were on Sony. Didn't buy. While browsing in the store, liked the cd they were playing. An EP by "The Greenhornes." $6. Ready to buy, until seeing it was on Sony.
There is so much stuff that I want to buy, it isn't even a matter of cost that stops me from getting it all. Its remembering all of it, and getting around to finding it, etc. I have plenty of choice, and have no trouble whatsoever finding good new stuff. It isn't that there is no good music being MADE anymore, its that there isn't any good music being MARKETED anymore. The majors are not where the action is. Danko Jones, Leona Naess, Abra Moore, Old 97's, and Dressy Bessy - great stuff on small labels.
I completely agree. I was burned by a Switchfoot CD that I could not load into my iTunes software. If I had known, I wouldn't have bought the physical record and would have just downloaded from iTunes. It's a mistake I won't make again.
Sony is a shameful media company... For all of the wonderful music they lord over, and the (apparently) large cash flow at hand, there are unforgivable holes in their available catalogs. Phoebe Snow, out of print??!! Charles Mingus's "let My Children Hear Music"? Duke Ellington's wonderful "Black, Brown And Beige" featuring Mahalia Jackson... OUT OF PRINT??? Don't get me started on the GUTTING of one of the greatest labels of all times Columbia Masterw... Excuse me... SONY CLASSICAL??? (gag). The incredible Masterworks Heritage series just evaporated abck '98 ("Feh, those things are in MONO!! Those records are worthless" WTF??) Notable and definitive recordings of many important composers of the past century (Copland, Stravinsky, Bernstein) conducting their own work OUT OF PRINT... Budapest String Quartet's recordings of Beethoven? Unavailable, outside of someone else's idea of "essential" in favor of the quick (maybe) profit (Joshua Bell does NOT impress me)
Their misguided views of the material (if they posess any vision of it at all)they warden reminds me of finding out a good, kind, beautiful and sweet friend is being abused by their mate...
The rootkit fiasco is just one more thing to make me weep for the beauty they possess and not understand.
OK, I'll breathe now.
PS Bob, I L.O.V.E. the podcasts. You are the voice of the spirit true record geeks...
Good summery, it beggers belief that companies can believe that putting restrictions on their customers will have an effect on piracy.
On second thoughts, it does, since it is now safer to download music than insert a CD, it encourages it!
Sony (and others) are encouraging piracy, the DMCA has been used against p2p programs for exactly the same excuse.
It is aknowledged that cd burning hurts the music industry more than p2p, and yet sony still makes money on burners.
iTunes and similar are trying to make progress by offering music for the digital generation, with enough DRM to keep the studios happy without crippling the user, and yet at the same time companies who should know better are dragging their own names through the mud with rediculous measures.
Thank you for your (semi) rational insight. Personally, I'm tired of being treated like a criminal by labels, especially when I'm trying to BUY music, not steal it. I will NEVER, repeat NEVER, purchase a crippled CD, period. And I will boycott forever ANY band that that allows their discs to encoded with invasive copy-protection schemes. I used to love supporting artists by purchasing their cd's and attending live shows. But it's becoming more difficult to rationalize that support when I feel like I'm getting screwed.
Imagine if you purchased an automobile that would only permit the registered owner to drive it AND placed a spy in you garage. Isn't the the black eye that Sony BMG has given the entire industry? Let's face it, most consumers don't consider what record label releases a recording. Music fans just want the songs. If there is perceived taint that CDs are going to harm their computers or other hardware, they are just going to avoid buying music altogether or shift to a legal online model like iTunes. As a record collector, that's bad news for me. Electronic downloads don't hold the same value as a vinyl record or a CD.
I agree with u 100 percent. Also, as I've said since this whole burning thing started. This is no different than using your VCR to record a movie from TV. Also I'm adding that artists need to start back taking pride in their craft. I remember just a decade or 2 ago, you would buy an album and you would get your money's worth because you could listen to an album without skipping to the next track. Now, it's like the artists and record labels don't care and subject us the consumer to spend 20 bucks on a bullshit album. I will buy downloads and keep a compilation style album always because that's the only way I'm going to get my moneys worth as well as not having to worry about Macrovision style crap that's being placed on CD's. The record companies know that Copy protection is hurting them and what they don't want to accept is the fact that it can't be stopped as long as there are CD/DVD Burners being manufactured(by the same people who place restrictions on their products mind you),You can't stop so called piracy.And by the way, if I BOUGHT the product, I have the right to do whatever I damn well please with it.
One of the things the labels fail to realize is that "fair use" is still alive in the USA. Any/all attempts at any sort of copy protection violates this use of copywrited material. I am a collector and as such purchase actual product. I refuse to download any song(s) for other than making a determiniation as to whether or not to actually purchase the "album" the song is on. Over the years I have borrowed albums from friends making "perusal" copies and I have downloaded songs with P2P software. In ALL cases I have actually purchased anything I like and have listened to more than once or twice. This habbit has garnered sales for the labels. I'm not alone in this respect and feel the new/current model companies like Sony/BMG are purporting to force down consumers throats is actually causing more lost sales then the so-called piracy they are attempting to stop... Piracy?... well casual copying is what it really is. The real "pirates" are not stopped by the crap the labels are doing to consumers via DRM. While I would rather continue my habbit, with over 1000 recordings in my collection (which I'm proud to say are 100% legal and free from DRM) I can stop purchasing from any/all companies supporting DRM and enjoy a very long listen. So... who's hurting whom? Quoting one of my favorite Steppenwolf tunes "...don't bite the hand that feeds you..."
All the major labels totally blew it years ago when instead of partnering or buying out Napster, a near-perfect music distribution system, they freaked out and alienated their best customers. Can you imagine how much money the majors would make if their entire vaults (not just in-print catalogues)were available online for download at reasonable prices? Witness the success of Instant live, Rhino Handmade and many other custom labels; fans will buy and buy and buy. I have no sympathy whatsoever for the major labels. Remember, a CD still costs the same as it did when the medium was first introduced over 23 years ago! What's wrong with this picture? Finally, I would like to thank the majors for allowing my little business of selling vintage and out-of-print vinyl and reel tape music to flourish through their inattention to their catalogues.
|
|
Subscribe to Feed
