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Music so nice... you may pay twice

Written by Lars-Erik_Olson on December 18, 2001 to .

NEW YORK - In a move that undoubtedly will confound people who want to play by the rules, music consumers will be paying twice if they want to listen to their music on their stereo and on their computer. And yes, EMI is involved.

  Today, Universal became the first label to sell copy-protected CDs with the release of its soundtrack “Fast & Furious.” This CD will keep people from listening to their music on a computer or other digital device.

  Essentially, consumers will be required to pay once for a physical CD and once for the digital music file. Fear of piracy cutting into retail sales is the major record labels’ justification for restricting how people can listen to the music they buy. The goal is to keep people from turning individual songs into the MP3 format.

  The recording industry has cited file-trading services such as Napster and an increase in CD-Rs as the primary reasons for declining album sales.

  Ironically, the RIAA announced just yesterday that a survey they conducted found that 79 percent of consumers still want to receive an album as a holiday gift. That number climbed to 87 percent among people between the ages of 10 and 27, the age group most often associated with digital piracy.

  For those consumers who want to listen to their music online, there is only one service being offered right now. MusicNet – a joint venture between major labels EMI, BMG, Warner Music and Internet media company RealNetworks – retails for $10 per month but limits consumers to 100 downloads and 100 streams. The downloads can’t be transferred to portable music devices or burned to CDs, and if the subscription lapses, the files will no longer play.

  Pressplay, an alternative service offered by the Universal Music Group and Sony Music, is expected out before the end of the year.

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19 comments

adriancho_ said on :

My opinion on the matter is that if we let ourselves be taken by all this consumption of the great companies that have a lot of wealth, we are going to lose the possibility of listening to the music that we like.
Without going too far, I listen to Rox for 5 years, and the truth is that only originals I have are the CD of Look Sharp and Tourism. The rest are copies or CD-Rs.
For that reason, ENDURANCE the MP3! Chau to all, and ENDURANCE ROXETTE!

arnie said on :

Try once in a while to purchase an original CD
of Roxette, since you are going to help them so that they can continue to exist. I understand to you that he is but cheap, and for the other artists who you gustann sure but if queres to support to Roxette so that they follow... EDITOR’S NOTE: a horrible translation... hope Arnie can clean it up. -LEO

n_e_1 said on :

12/19/2001 21:08

I think that as far as singles, this or which we copy them because in some opportunities they do not obtain with facility and in others they are too expensive, to my they sold maxi of Dangerous to $ 60 and estan selling for The look or dressed success to $ 120, a madness.
But albumes... to make a effort and to buy them, because asi is as despues the stupid one of Cecilia Crespo of EMI Argentina says that Roxette no longer exists in the USA nor in Argentina (in a mail that me respondio to my),y that it does not sell and that bla bla bla.

Lars-Erik_Olson (moderator) said on :

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LittleSpooky said on :

I am a bit concerned about this as well. For example, my Sarah Brightman CD “La Luna” contains a hidden track that can ONLY be accessed on my computer. It’s a version of “Moon River” or something along those lines and I can’t access it on my regular CD player. Scary

Little Spooky

Micael said on :

Hey, don’t worry... someone will eventually find a way around the copyrights. *grin*

tevensso (moderator) said on :

The record companies are digging their own graves. And like someone else stated, this too will be cracked. Then again, I think you should buy original albums when possible, I have not one CD-R of Roxette that I haven’t made myself.

RoxFM said on :

Do they really think that will work?? There will always be a way to copy music and they know that. They only wanna get the double price for the CDs.

I wouldn’t buy these CDs!!!

keithy said on :

I’m actually for the discouragement of MP3’s when songs are readily available on CD/tape/vinyl but if it’s a b-side on a deleted single then I say that fans should share these songs as mp3’s etc so that everyone gets a chance to hear them. Maybe if record companies made these songs more available to fans then they shouldn’t have as much worry???

Mfan28179-Jason said on :

I agree with Keithy. If it’s hard to find material or out of print, then it should be made available through MP3 or reissued. It’s their choice. Here in the USA, the singles market is dying FAST! If I want remixes of my favorite songs or b-sides or whatever, I can only buy them on import (if I’m lucky then). So, it goes both ways. Record companies are at fault as well for not providing this music to the fans.

Surrealistic69 said on :

In this day and age, we have forgotten the whole purpose of music; the whole essence, if you will. Music is an artform. It exists so the artist can express themselves. All the big record labels are concerned about is $$$, and it’s not cool. There is more to making music than the whole business aspect of it, but in today’s society a musician has to be aware about what is happening, especially if they are signed to a record label.

Even though this is not a Metallica website, I have to bring them up for one moment.... Metallica is bitching now that mp3s are being made of their songs, and they are not seeing much of the profit. When they first started out, they relied on people passing around tapes of their music. All an mp3 is is a current day tape, if you will. Contradicting? I think so!!!!!

Emerzon said on :

OF COURSE this won’t help to prevent piracy at all.
Unless they have some sort of mystical connection with all PCs, they won’t succeed in making some piracy copying protection system.

Anyway, when I buy one CD, I also buy the rights to listen the songs on it, wherever I want. This thing sounds illegal to me. Some lawyer would have to give his comments on this one.

PerFanatic said on :

Well, this is certainly a pet peeve of mine. This latest “paying twice” scheme is pure crap and guess what. They will lose sales because of it. Case in point: while in Sweden last month, I saw Eiffel 65’s new CD in several recored stores in Stockholm. Since I really liked their first CD, I was prepared to fork out the $13/$14 for their new effort. However, just before I got to the checkout line, I saw a little blurb on the front of the CD saying “this CD will no play on your PC”. Well, that was the first I heard of any such thing. I stood there realizing that 80%-90% of the CD’s I listen to are on my PC at work. With that in mind, I returned the CD to its shelf. So, you stupid-ass record companies are shooting yourselves in the foot! I mean, why the hell would anyone buy a CD that could only be played on a traditional CD player? No PC’s or MP3 players? That eliminates a lot of listening for most of us. This is truly insanity in its purest form!

btw, Morpheus kicks serious ass. Go check it out before those blood suckers try and shut it down too.

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