News Hell freezes over as Sony drops DRM

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01/04/hell_freezes_over_as_sony_drops_drm/1

I know it's damn cold here in Blighty, but I didn't think I'd live to see the day when Sony BMG plans to drop DRM (and sell music through channels other than Apples iTunes).

 

Sony is starting to see the light.....

 

Just make cd's cheaper and i might actually buy them... oh yeah and release something worth listening too

/complaints about just being noise on the radio

 

I actually buy CD's....

...but I havent bought one within oh...2-3 years of it's release.

Meaning yes, you marketing-guru's out there, let me give you a disturbingly new thought: Price does matter!

 

A big step in the right direction.

 

There hasn't been any good "mainstream" music since the mid 90's anyway. If it's made in the last ten years and sold more than 100,000 then it's crap anyway, why pay for that?

 

Sony ditches DRM? what the ****? i always thought it would be more likely that the pope converts to buddhism....

anyway, good job sony on getting rid of that crap... now just cut the cd prices in half.

 

Pish! Depends on what you mean by Mainstream, but there is some excellent music coming along now, well unless you're a Backstreet Boys fan. Let us know what bands you like and I gurantee we can suggest some mainstream acts that'll float your boat.

 

Sounds like a "half effort" done purely for marketing.

gooder engrish

 

About time tbh
Can only hope that others follow suite.

 

I'm glad to see a step in the right direction, albeit a little late. In fact, supporting DRM at all in these regards is a bit ridiculous bordering on preposterous. This doesn't really effect me personally, as I don't really buy 'big mainstream' type music anyways. 95% of what I get is generally tiny label stuff or direct from the artist on CD. But I am glad Sony is starting to see the light, or at least understanding things from the consumers' point of view.

I've never used iTunes, nor will I ever, unless they want to start offering all DRM-free high-quality correctly and securely ripped stuff either in V0/320 mp3's or FLAC from artists other than big label trite crap. But apparently I'm in the minority.

 

i had considered maybe buying some songs off iTunes due to the gift certificate I received for Christmas, however after not being able to find decent non-DRM songs, I think I'll pass on it alltogether

edit: as for Sony "dropping DRM" .. I fully expect some PR spin from the same genius that said Sony PS3's couldn't be found in stock!

 

I dont buy pop music because most of what is sold today is compressed to hell so I may as well be listening on a boombox, and in the case of lots of big selling artists they have no vocal talent so its processed to hell.

See if you can find maroon 5's apperance on rove online, and then tell me how you think it compares to the fat balding drunk guy at karaoke - quite similar I thought.

With it being so crap, it sounds bad no matter what you do to it, so a 128 mp3 of it is fine, it just has a bit more distortion that you dont notice over whats already being killed out of it by all the soft clipping.

 

Until online music retailers have a similar setup to Steam, I will not be purchasing any music in any format other than a compact disc. No way in hell will I lose a few gigs of music to a virus or hardware failure, only to have to repurchase the lot again. I want an account, where I can clearly see what albums I've bought and can freely download when ever I feel like.

 

*Dances on DRMs grave*

Bout time they realized the millions of dollars they may have well been burning for heat they wasted on that broken tech.

 

I'm waiting for the clarification that says "Sony moves away from Digital Rights Management. Creates Intellectual Property Protection instead".

But hey, if we can actually take this for face value, then I'll have to throw a party.

 

what cd is that? is it just some sony BMG demo cd i like the design of it, anyway i think its a good way towards the death of DRM and the start of something that wont slit our throats in the processs

 

yeah, just make sure you scan your system for rootkits after buying some of their music. "Oh no, we don't use drm! and we'd never use rootkits again after being caught...twice" I trust Sony as far as I can throw it and since it's pretty ephemeral, thats not very far.

 

A very small light though, seeing that they only "open" part of their slow-selling artists

I really hope they'll get rid of ALL drm, and not open it up at one section, and making a new (100th) online musicstore that sells utter poo and drm ánd at a normal CD-price

 

DRM never stopped me in the first place.