Missing the Big Picture

There is a lot of buzz surrounding music labels’ agreements to sell DRM-free music in marketplaces other than the iTunes Music Store. The problem is that they miss the big picture. They don’t pay attention to the two things that really matter. People want to be able to buy their music easily People want their purchased music to work on their devices The iTunes Music Store allows people to easily purchase music. They set the precedence with a $0.99 price point, and everyone is following suit. They showed that if it is easy to purchase music and easy to listen to it again, they will pay that price. The problem is that with the (barely) exception of Amazon.com’s mp3 store, the price point has stayed the same 99 cents. People will still pay that price, and DRM-free music is certainly enticing for those of us that even understand that. Many people don’t realize that DRM even exists. To make things worse, some companies try to charge $1.99/song for downloa...