I thought this reprint of an article I wrote a few years ago was appropriate in light of DRM "elimination" by EMI for their music on iTunes.

09/15/2004 - Let the price wars begin!

Here it comes. Real Networks, in an obvious strike against Apple iTunes, started selling downloads for $0.49 after reverse engineering the code to make their downloaded songs compatible with the iPod. 49 cents? What a great deal! But wait, Apple is now offering FR** music downloads! (Sorry, I'm afraid my attorneys will not allow me to use the word free if referring to music d***loads) A fr** track every week. That's unbelievable! But wait, isn't the whole reason for creating this legitimate structure for downloading meant to stop those criminals from downloading songs for fr** so the "artists" can get paid? Oh yeah, it's for promotion, dummy. But wait, "illegal" file sharing was reaching millions more people, isn't that better promotion for the artist? No no no, the artist gets paid through the legal download services you see. The artist makes about $0.07 on a $0.99 download on iTunes. That must mean that the artist makes $0.035 per download from the Real Networks' music site. According to my math that's pretty close to FR** but with a lot less coverage and a lot more restrictions. Is it my imagination or is this an even worse deal than was being dealt before? I sure am glad I am not involved in this mess.

ArtistShare's focus is on the creation of new art and music. Without the artists that create the art there would be no iTunes or iPod or RealPlayer. I usually do not make predictions but this downloadable music thing is going to crash and burn. It's not the download people want it's the artist! It's the same story, put all of the focus on the distribution company's bottom line and forget about the artist. It is not a privilege to get paid as an artist, it is a necessity. As I have said before, the music industry is now a "service" industry where artists provide a necessary service to the world. That is where ArtistShare comes in. More and more artists are realizing that the service they provide is a valuable and necessary service. ArtistShare provides the best system for funding artistic projects through an existing fan base while helping to grow that fan base at the same time. Talk to me again in a few years. I wonder if we will be saying "Do you remember that iTunes thing"?


Thanks for visiting ArtistShare