Yahoo's pop hook: Download music without limits

[joeunderdog]

Goldberg is general manager of online music sales for Internet giant Yahoo Inc., and his Yahoo Music Service is selling McCartney's ``Right Where You Want Me" without restrictive antipiracy software. If Yahoo can sell more copies of the album than the dominant iTunes Store, run by archrival Apple Computer Inc., it could be the beginning of a transformation in the online music market.

Both companies are selling the album for $9.99. But Yahoo Music won't try to prevent buyers from passing out copies to friends, or posting the songs on the Internet where friends can download them. Versions of the album sold by Apple and other online retailers will contain the usual ``digital rights management" or DRM software, to prevent illegal copying. But Yahoo will issue McCartney's album in MP3, a generic music format that lets the owner make unlimited copies.

It's a chance at vindication for Goldberg, who has long argued that DRM is a waste of time and money. He hopes that strong sales of McCartney's MP3 album will encourage recording industry leaders to turn away from DRM. ``They're not there yet," Goldberg said. ``We're hoping to get them there. This is a very good test."

It's also a chance for Yahoo Music to emerge from Apple's shadow. Apple is by far the most successful online music store, with nearly 70 percent of the market. Yahoo has only about 1 percent.

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/09/23/yahoos_pop_hook_download_music_without_limits/

BTW--anyone have a solution to the W M Player10 problem recognizing certain MP3 files? Is this related to the DRM software? And is there a way around it?

[n2doc]

1. few labels will go for this

If anything, they have been fighting for more restrictive DRM. And besides, it is really quite easy to circumvent the Apple DRM. Burn the files to CD and re-import. You need to have a hard copy backup anyway.