I’m sitting here listening to a track from the new Coldplay album Viva La Vida. It’s ok. But that’s not the point. The point is that I’ve actually pre-ordered the album from iTunes Store. Mainstream as they may be, I’m a bit of a Coldplay fan. Not just that, I’m also a lazy Coldplay fan who doesn’t have the energy to search around for free downloads. I want the album when it comes out, and this is an easy way to get it. When you pre-order you also get one of the tracks right away.
But that’s me. There are obviously a zillion people out there who will never pay a cent for this album, and they will actually get a better product than I did. They’ll get a product that they can distribute anywhere and use anywhere. Mine is limited to five machines. Thanks guys. I feel really appreciated now.
A problem of DRM is that it disables the social marketing engine for artists. I want to share music with my friends. I want to talk about it. But I can’t, because the song I bought is limited to 5 machines. Ultimately that model is counter productive for the artist, and this is why the Spotify model will rule the world – It’s a win-win deal between the audience AND the artist.
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