Why the copyright cartel in Singapore is still in the red

Posted by admin on December 29th, 2006 filed in General

Because the majors like Universal Music are a repository for morons like Gary See and Doug Morris.

Gary See, MD of Universal Music Singapore says:

“I’m telling you, I’m generally collecting less than S$2,000 a month from downloads from Soundbuzz,” says Mr See. Soundbuzz is a major digital music vendor in Asia, Australia.

The question is, why? Well, let us find out some things about Soundbuzz. Firstly, the screenshot below says everything.

Soundbuzz does not support Mac users at all. On top of that, Soundbuzz also actually requires Windows users who use Firefox rather than IE to install an extension on Firefox that makes IE run within Firefox. Given the sorts of hoops and obstacles Soundbuzz puts in place, is it all that surprising that Soundbuzz is not all that popular? Given the sorts of requirements, it would take either a person who truly puts their faith in the security of Windows to buy songs on Soundbuzz, or a brain-dead moron. Personally I think a person who sits in the first category also sits in the second.

And that is not the worst part. The reason why any non-Windoze OS is not supported can be seen from the screenshot below.

Soundbuzz uses a DRM system that only Windoze users can use. Apple iTunes Music Store uses DRM that BOTH Windows and Mac users can use. Soundbuzz also requires IE, without exception, because their implementation of DRM requires it to function. iTunes Music Store doesn’t care which browser you use.

The story gets worse. Since I couldn’t access the Soundbuzz webpage, I had to google for a page explaining what sort of restrictions their DRM creates. Soundbuzz DRM is described as such :

When a consumer downloads an encrypted (packaged) digital music file, they are automatically (and invisibly) issued with a unique license. This license contains a key which the Windows Media Player uses to unlock the package as the user tries to play the track. The license is unique to the PC (or other device) that the consumer uses to play the track, and as such attempts to pirate/copy your music are pointless, because the track can only be played on the device to which the license is issued. Licenses can’t be transferred from one machine to another (other than to a portable player should you the content owner choose to allow that).

So this it what it boils down to. When you buy a CD, you can listen to the CD anytime and anyplace you want, on any CD player of your choosing. When you buy and download a digital music file however, you can only listen to the song on that particular Windows PC, and only possibly on a Windows Media device IF the copyright owner allows you to. The question is, for all those people who liken downloading to stealing a CD, why does the responsibility not work the other way round? Why can we have greater freedoms to use the CD when we buy it than when we buy a digital song file encrusted with DRM?

Now, here’s the punchline of the story. Microsoft is abandoning PlaysForSure DRM, abandoning third party music sellers and music players, and moving their entire business model to the Zune Marketplace. This basically means that Soundbuzz has been shafted in the ass and left high and dry, with no more support from Micro$oft.

The question is, why should Gary See be surprised that he’s not getting much money from Soundbuzz? If you make it a living hell for people to buy music, they will go to the next best option.

“If all this fails, I can tell you there’ll be no music industry in Singapore, no local artists, no more concerts. End of story,” Mr See asserts.

There will always be music, there will always be musicians, and there will always be a way for musicians to make money. There just won’t be a copyright cartel anymore. Of course, Gary See wouldn’t like that, which is why he is trying to conflate the major labels with the entire music industry itself. As I recall, Mozart and Beethoven did not need Universal Music to achieve musical immortality.

CNA - Local record labels see red despite increase in legal music downloads

UMG Chairman/CEO is a repository of stupidity « The Legal Janitor

Microsoft Asia Case Studies: SoundBuzz

Soundbuzz DRM

Zune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia