BoingBoing | WalMart now says they'll keep the DRM servers on forever

I wrote about this when WalMart first announced that they were revoking your ability to play the music you "bought" from them, but it looks like they've changed their mind, just like Yahoo. Well, not quite like Yahoo, but the same idea. They're going to leave their DRM servers on for some undisclosed additional time.

BoingBoing seems to think they'll leave them up permanently, but the press release doesn't actually say that. Regardless, WalMart is paying real money for their mistake, and it's always nice to see that. Except in this economy where we need WalMart to keep the entire country from going bankrupt. Then it kind of sucks.

And there's another in the long list of music retailers who decided to turn off their DRM servers, effectively taking back the music you "bought".

As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.

WalMart is actually telling people to burn their DRMed music to cd so they don't lose it. This is a pretty callous way of telling customers that WalMart doesn't care about them. I don't really understand how there can't be a better solution. Is it really that hard for WalMart to leave a server running that just always says, "yes, you're authorized"?

It is increasingly clear to all those paying attention that any business model that depends on some sort of DRM is doomed to fail. And those who buy DRMed goods are doomed to lose them when the seller decides not to support it anymore. Let that be a lesson - DRM is anti-consumer. Always. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either mislead or lying.

Originally uploaded by Nine Inch Nails
Official

No, not the picture. That's clearly not my daughter. No, the wife was taking her to get her hearing tested and had some issues finding the place she had to go. The kid was fussing, so the wife turned on the radio, thinking she'd tune in a station that doesn't exist, and maybe the white noise would calm the kid down.

Well, the last time I was in the car, I was listening to Nine Inch Nails, and that came on instead of the radio.

Sure enough, the kid stopped crying right away. I think she might have fallen asleep.

I've spoken before about alternative business models for authors - some way to get paid for writing while at the same time embracing digital distribution and the economics of infinite goods.

Techdirt talks about music artists getting fans to help pay for the creation of a new album - fans give money and the artist uses that money to produce the album. Then, the artist has some options for what to do with the music after it's created, like selling cds or giving it away for free or whatever they want to do.

This might work for writers, too. Not all writers, maybe. But let's say you're a talented writer without a book deal. You set up a blog and connect with people who love the type of books you want to write. Give away free short stories or excerpts from your novel-in-progress. Then take money to produce the book. People who donate maybe get a discount on a paper copy, or a signed paper copy, or whatever other non-scare goods you might be interested in producing. If you're really good with your non-scare goods, you can give away the resulting ebook when you're done writing. This builds more fans, and helps you get more money to produce the next book.

I think it's harder for authors to do this than musicians, because it's harder for the author to come up with compelling non-scarce goods to sell. They have no equivalent of the live show (At least for the vast majority of authors). But at the same time, producing a book, especially an ebook, is vastly cheaper. In fact, with a little computer knowledge, it's almost free. So what your fans are really paying for is your time more than the production of the book.

For whatever reason, NIN.com has a really crazy archive system, so this link may not work for you, but apparently someone has released an old NIN album on vinyl without Trent's knowledge or approval.

You may have heard there's a new re-release of The Downward Spiral on vinyl. I heard that, too. I have no idea what it is or what's on it because the band has had no involvement in it.

How typical of the music industry - a band finds new ways to make money without treating fans like criminals, and some label that has rights to older music decides that it's going to support the artists by cutting them out of the loop.

Way to go, record label! That'll show everyone that you're still relevant!

Techdirt | Yahoo Offers Refunds Or DRM-Free Music In Exchange For Shutting Down DRM Servers

Looks like Yahoo is going to make things right for customers who bought DRM'ed music at their old store. They'll either replace the music with DRM-free editions, or give refunds.

Unlike Microsoft's band-aid (Keeping the DRM servers up for a few more years), this is an actual solution, righting the wrong that Yahoo did to its customers by "selling" them music that could be taken back at any time.

Yahoo! Music Store Will Compensate Customers For DRM-ed Music

Looks like maybe Yahoo will make it right for people who thought they were actually buying songs, rather than renting. Good for Yahoo. I hope the "compensation" details are actually consumer-friendly.

Boing Boing | Yahoo Music shutting down its DRM server, customers lose all their paid-for music the next time they crash or upgrade

"All those years the music industry spent insisting that the only way they'd sell music is with crippling DRM attached managed to totally discredit the idea of buying music at all."

Techdirt | Did Yahoo Not Pay Attention To What Happened When Microsoft Pulled The Plug On Its DRM Server?

could [Yahoo] seriously not have noticed the massive backlash that Microsoft received for telling people that it was turning off its DRM servers, effectively locking all the songs people had "bought" to their current computers.

I thought I'd written about it a little while back when Microsoft decided that the servers that check to see if the music you've "purchased" from Microsoft's music store is legal or not were no longer necessary. That meant that all the music you thought you "bought" from Microsoft was really just being rented, and now they'd decided to terminate your lease because they didn't feel like complying with the deal they made with you anymore.

And now Yahoo is doing the same thing. All the music you "bought" from Yahoo won't work anymore if you move it to a different computer.

I've said this numerous times, and I'm not alone - if you pay for ANYTHING that has DRM attached, you are NOT buying. You are RENTING at the discretion of whoever is taking your money. Some people may be okay with that. I'm not.

More free music from Nine Inch Nails. Well, sort of. Free download of DRM-free MP3s of one Nine Inch Nails song from the most recent album, The Slip, and four songs from bands touring with Nine Inch Nails. Just downloaded and haven't listened yet because the Celtics are on, but I recommend that everyone download this stuff. If you like it, consider buying a cd or going to a show or something.

Ethan Kaplan, the VP of technology at Warner Bros. Records, just announced a new website for Metallica that makes it look like they've finally decided that music plus internet is not necessarily bad.

The site looks like it's trying to build a community of fans by giving them some free stuff, deals on merchandise, and promoting the new album. It's too bad I'm not still fourteen and eager to buy anything Metallica produced.

It's funny that the crotchety old guys who wanted to kill the entire internet when people first realized they could download music illegally are now near the front of the pack of major (Okay, it's questionable if Metallica counts as "major" these days, but bear with me) bands embracing a "I can make more money by giving away non-scarce goods to promote the scarce ones" business model.