DRM=DUMB

About three years after the much vaunted launch of "the savior of the record business, but not so much" a.k.a. iTunes, could the record industry finally be getting smart? Probably not, but we have slight reason for hope. It appears the EMI Group, home to the Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Gorillaz among others is experimenting with selling unprotected MP3s.

Why this matters:

1. MP3s will play on EVERY music player from the ubiquituous iPod to geek jizz target iRiver. This means you won't be forced to continue buying iPods so you can keep playing music you paid for. Buying MP3 players with stable batteries, who'da thunk it?

2. Unprotected MP3s means you can move your files from one hard drive (or computer) to another as often as you wish and not be locked out of your files. Remember, some of the online music stores only allow you to have your music on 3 computers. So when you quit your job in a blaze of glory (as I pretend to annually), you won't be secretly trying to jack the hard drive in the middle of your lunch break.

3. You can share your music. Microsoft, welcome to the REAL social.

Of course, this aspect of the deal has been what the music companies have been freaking out about since their last major cash cow, the CD, turned out to be the gift horse that kicked its owner in the mouth. (Sorry, for the mixed barnyard metaphors there.)

The reality is, file sharing is a pandora's box that seems impossible to close, but additionally, the labels have all but given justification to the song stealers. It's easier to download an MP3 off a blog than to buy a file at iTunes, burn it to CD, and re-rip it as an Mp3 to play on your non-iPod MP3 player. Or to be fair, to buy a NapsterLive track and follow the same steps to play it in your iPod.

Going directly at iTunes in this space will apparently be Amazon, who are reportedly looking to open a digital music store in the 1st half of 2007 selling unprotected MP3s, potentially with major label support. This represents the first serious challenge to iTunes. Sorry, Zune. Note, the 2nd biggest seller of online music is eMusic, which sells only unprotected MP3s, but primarily of indie artists (most of whom we have only heard--accidentally-- on drunken hikes through the East Village).

The most damning evidence against iTunes and its "closed ecosystem" so far has been a study (OK, less a study than simple math) showing that only approximately 22 tracks have been sold on iTunes for every iPod in existence. That's a paltry number considering the lowest capacity iPod (the 1GB shuffle) can hold up to 250 tracks, the largest can hold 20,000....

Long story short, if done correctly, this could be HUGE. Fact is, it probably won't be. The next year will almost undoubtedly feature more hemming and hawing by the labels when the best thing they could possibly do is keep it simple.

Remember back in 1997, when some label genius had the bright idea to not sell singles. It boosted album sales for maybe a year, then came Napster where people largely traded what? Yes, porn, but also singles!!! Just like nature will find a way, so will music buyers.

We like music. We're willing to pay for it. We also like making mixtapes for our friends, that's not going to change. But if you sell me music the way I want it, maybe I'll respond.