Why the copyright cartel in Singapore is still in the red
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
I’m not surprised. I used to try to use Soundbuzz to get music but I ran into countless problems – from my licenses suddenly disappearing from my computer, being unable to play it on my MP3 player and worse, after paying for the songs, being unable to download them. Tried asking the customer service and they expected me to jump through hoops to give them all sorts of details about my computer. Then when I took a while to get back to them, I got an email saying they would delete my ticket if I didn’t get back to them by a certain date.
Needless to say, I never used them again.
Piper
29 Dec 06 at 5:20 pm
“To lower costs, the label is manufacturing and selling cheaper CDs with less frills and fewer pages in the album sleeves.”
Next time CDs will only have a jewel case and a piece of paper with the download URL. Save cost and remove (one of) the reason why people buy CDs at the same time. Smart.
dodo
29 Dec 06 at 7:54 pm
Too bad, most of us are trained to use only MS products. For example,look at the primary/secondady school projects – MOST uses MSOffice (cost tons of money) instead of the freely available OpenOffice (absolutely free).
We can’t blame programmers to know only how to support MS or MS to shaft your ass once in a while
Michal
29 Dec 06 at 8:04 pm
I just want the iTunes store in Singapore. That’s all I ask.
As an addendum, it also looks kinda silly because almost everyone (I know) who has an MP3 player uses an iPod. I’m not sure if iTunes can autoconvert DRM-ed *.wma files to *.mp3 files, but one would think a prerequisite for entering the digital music market would be for your files to actually play on the overwhelming market leader’s products.
Ray
30 Dec 06 at 8:35 pm
1) Very few people use Macs
2) Not that many people use Firefox
3) Mozart died in penury
Michal: OpenOffice has problems with Excel formulae and screen redrawing
Agagooga
31 Dec 06 at 10:38 am
Classical musicians in centuries past got money by:
1) Commissioned work – Very very rare today
2) Teaching – Still can, but the competition from piano teachers is great
3) Patronage – NAC grants, I guess, but nothing on the scale of what Royalty, Aristocracy or Clergy could provide
Agagooga
31 Dec 06 at 10:40 am
1) Very few people drive BMWs
2) Not that many people own cars
3) Musicians need to be good to earn money
Agagooga: many things are relative – including ‘many’ and ‘few’, sadly also ‘very’ and nowadays, even ‘great’. MS Office has problems with screen redrawing on any platform, which you would know if you had used MS Word (as the most egregious example).
Al-Khem
31 Dec 06 at 10:50 am
1) and 2) would be relevant if someone asked why no one was buying car air fresheners. Similarly, my 1) and 2) are relevant for music.
As for 3), being good is neither necessary nor sufficient to earn money as a musician.
OpenOffice, I’m told, is worse.
Agagooga
3 Jan 07 at 7:27 pm
Yeh, I agree with Agagooga – the Mac user thing is a non-issue, despite what you say. (I *am* a Mac user, and if I remember correctly I was using a Mac before you were.)
I think the real problem is that there isn’t a close enough integration between the available mp3 players and the store interface, like there is in iTunes. iTunes is very, very integrated indeed. I think iTunes would make a decent income if the Singapore store ever opened here.
Ray: iTunes can’t convert DRMed WMA files. I tell you something, though. I foolishly played a bunch of mp3s I ripped from a Sonic Youth CD (which I’ve since lost, @!#@#) on WiMP on my Windows PC, and then once I did that iTunes on Windows (and Mac, when I brought it over) wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Another of the many ways Microsoft has made our lives better.
tsft
5 Jan 07 at 3:58 pm
Playing MP3s shouldn’t convert them.
Agagooga
7 Jan 07 at 2:40 pm
Do a little tinkling to the web browser (by changing the ‘user agent’), and Soundbuzz can be accessed from Safari, Camino and even Firefox. Still, that rquires some technical knowledge.
It’s not surprising that Soundbuzz (like many Singapore corporate websites) is only Windoze friendly. That’s the majority of the market that they’re targetting at! It could all be part of their marketing plan.
One thing’s for sure – that plan of theirs is pretty screwed up. For the young people like myself, it’s still CD or illegal downloads.
Brennan
7 Jan 07 at 5:49 pm
Agagooga: It shouldn’t, yep. But it has. Because it’s Microsoft.
tsft
7 Jan 07 at 7:04 pm
Al-Khem, that’s a very familiar name there … c’est toi, l’alchimiste?
the galoisian radical
26 Jan 07 at 9:28 am