Also, what other alternatives are there to try and protect against piracy?
That's the thing, pirates can rip music from CDs with no problems and most of the time albums get "released" on P2P networks before the official sales start.
DRM in music has led to something kind of interesting, artists supporting either free distribution or the out right stealing of their music.
For free distribution, the example of Radiohead comes to mind. Every cent that anyone paid for that album went to the band. Every cent. That's the best thing possible for any fans of the band. And I know what you're thinking, "No one would pay for something that they won't have to." And that's where you're wrong. Knowing that spending money on the album would directly benefit that band, a lot of fans chose to spend something. (I don't have exact numbers, but I'm sure it's between $5 and $15.)
And, for the theft, I've read a couple of interviews where the bands (or at least, the lead singer) has said that they don't care of someone steals their music, as long as they spend the money where it counts, on concert tickets and merchandise. Tom Gabel, the lead singer of Against Me! (the only band from my hometown that's on a major label) said in a recent interview with Alternative Press that if someone wanted to steal his band's CD from a store, he would watch their back and protect them from the mall guards.
Hopefully, the final mistake of DRM, at least in music, will lead to the overall demise of the current system. And also, as one of the many pirates you guys are referencing, DRM is nothing. It will be broken, and so will the next one.
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For free distribution, the example of Radiohead comes to mind. Every cent that anyone paid for that album went to the band. Every cent. That's the best thing possible for any fans of the band. And I know what you're thinking, "No one would pay for something that they won't have to." And that's where you're wrong. Knowing that spending money on the album would directly benefit that band, a lot of fans chose to spend something. (I don't have exact numbers, but I'm sure it's between $5 and $15.)
And, for the theft, I've read a couple of interviews where the bands (or at least, the lead singer) has said that they don't care of someone steals their music, as long as they spend the money where it counts, on concert tickets and merchandise. Tom Gabel, the lead singer of Against Me! (the only band from my hometown that's on a major label) said in a recent interview with Alternative Press that if someone wanted to steal his band's CD from a store, he would watch their back and protect them from the mall guards.
Hopefully, the final mistake of DRM, at least in music, will lead to the overall demise of the current system. And also, as one of the many pirates you guys are referencing, DRM is nothing. It will be broken, and so will the next one.