Today is a good day for music lovers such as myself. Sony BMG, one of the "Big 4" music labels. It's also the last of the 4 labels to announce a DRM free music partnership. Although I don't have listen to a lot of music on Sony BMG, a lot of the indepedents I listen to are distributed through S-BMG, so I really wish they would go DRM free as well. Although there is no formal partnership as of yet, being the only "big" label to not be using DRM is not a good business tactic, especially with CD sales on the down-low. Good going Sony, for once in my life, I'm proud of you.

 So today, Microsoft announced version 2 of the Zune. Big yawner right? Well maybe not so much. According to the very reliable Ars Technica, there are some pretty interesting features in Zune 2.0. Most notably, WiFi sync. If I'm reading the a

Zune-2

    So I got Windows Vista running today. And thanks to a hack from good 'ol BitTorrent, I don't have to drop over $150 for a copy of Home Premium. But don't tell Microsoft that. I'm enjoying it so far. I mean besides the improved UI, it's the small things like the Instant Search and the improved Window Management. The Iive Tabs feature is also nice. For all the bashing I've done to Vista, I still like it. I don't expect to bumb into the DRM wall yet, as I'm not planning on playing an HD content. With all that said, there are some things that I don't like. It takes forever to both Shut Down and start up as well as the fact that certain app's don't behave well. iTunes is the major culprit here. It works well enough, but it has it's glitches. Logitech Setpoint was another sticking point, but I managed to get it to work after a while. Driver support is pretty good. Considering the disk includes over 15,000 device drivers, it'd better be! My flash drive works fine. I've yet to test my iPod though, though I think it should work fine. I'll give you guys an update in a few days.  

My Vista Desktop

    So after much speculation, and amid much fanfare, EMI announced that today, it would be offering "premium" downloads with double the bit-rate (128 KB to 256 KB) as well as no DRM restrictions. And guess what? It's only .30 more cents. Can you count me in? Heck yes! For .30 cents I'll pay for a DRM free track. And plus all of my EMI music that I currently have can be upgraded to "Premium" status for just .30 cents. Most of the music I listen to is under EMI, although not directly. Capitol Records, Sparrow Records and Tooth and Nail Records are all labels that I listen to, so I will probably spend .30 cents. I just did a calculation and I'll spend about 23 bucks converting all my music to DRM free.
    In other news, apparently the CRTC wants to increase regulation of the internet. It's being pressured by actor unions as well as the copyright industry and such. I have three words for the CRTC: No.Frickin.Way. I can understand how you want to regulate television and radio, however the internet is like neither of those. It's an open network, international. You can't just say "Okay we're going to make these people make Canadian Content x percentage of the stuff on the internet. It doesn't work that way. It's not run by the big media companies. Podcasting as well as Video Podcasting and Vlogging do not (for the most part, recognize the regualtory power of the CRTC. I mean they can try and enforce but, it's like saying that since your not Canadian you have to stop producing your podcast as it does not conform to regulation x. It doesn't work like that anymore. You can read the full article here. I'm all for regulating the airwaves, but not the tubes. The tubes should not be interfered way. No siree Bob. And I don't want "Bandwidth Tax" to fuel "Cultural funding" either. Stop messing with the tubes, people, let them be.   

clipped from arstechnica.com

Amie Street signs major artists to sell DRM-free music

As the music DRM debate rages on, some services are moving forward with DRM-free      music and are starting to sign on some major names. Amie      Street, launched last July, is a web-based music service that, until now,      has mostly offered the music of independent artists for purchase without DRM.      However, Amie Street recently signed a new deal with Nettwerk Music Group—home      to a number of well-known artists such as the Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne,      Sarah McLachlan, and Paul Van Dyk—that has suddenly      brought the service into the public eye.

 

    A relatively new service, Amie St. is starting to sell some well known acts DRM free. Some of them include Avril  Lavigne, the Barenaked Ladies and Paul van Dyk. Yet another crack in the wall of DRM. Go Indies!

So the iCEO doesn't like DRM after all. A letter posted on Apple.com today speaks volumes more then what's on the page. It tu rn

Is Apple DRM Going The Way of the Dodo Bird?

So last night, just for the heck of it, I downloaded Windows Media Player 11. Back when this thing called iTunes wasn't around I used to use it extensively. However, now I use iTunes for my Audio and Democracy for my Video, let me tell you, this release of Windows Media isn't a huge improvement. Sure they've made it look all nice and pretty like with nice new buttons, but for someone who wants ease of use, it's the same old confusing file system for all of your media, besides the fact that's all DRM'd under the Windows Media file type. Yes there's plenty of Eye Candy, and it looks all very pretty, but I like things that work as well. That's why I use iTunes 7, granted it wasn't the greatest thing to work right off the bat, it's working now and the only things that are DRM'd is my music from the iTunes Store, and I have to give credit where credit is due, Apple's DRM is probably the most un obtrusive on the market today, much better than any Real Networks or Microsoft DRM. Granted it's still DRM but it's very flexible DRM. Really, unless you have more than 5 computers, your not going to notice it. It allows you to burn disks of all your music, as many as you want, as many times as you want. I personally hate DRM, but I think that flexible DRM is better than the oh-my-god-your-burning-a-disk-break-your-music-files Microsoft DRM. But back to Windows Media Player. Whereas Windows Media Player has a million menu's in the options section iTunes only has 5 or so. I mean for the Microsoft fanboy those options probably make sense, but more me, an open source supporter I just scratch my head and go "huh"? But anyway, if you get a prompt on your Windows Box to Upgrade to Windows Media Player 11, don't do it, in fact go to Apple and download iTunes or if your feeling really adventurous, google Fobar 2000 and try that out.
Anyway, off to school now,
I'll post tonight
  

Looking around the 'net tonight after I finished all the work I needed to get done for tomorrow, I found an article on Cnet about Microsoft and staying the course with the Xbox division. Last year it counted a $1.26 billion dollar loss as the highlight of the year But this is Microsoft. It's a land where everything is possible....That is, if you play within the rules. Rules at Microsoft, just to name a few.

1. Open Source is Bad. It promotes the idea that people can actully do things on there own. Anyone caught using Linux, Firefox, Thunderbird, the GIMP or any other Open Source program will immediately be either shot or tortured for 48 hours (i.e. have Balmer yell "Wiindows Windows Windows Windows...." at your for 24 hours straight and then see him collapse and go to the hospital to have surgery on his vocal chords.)
2. Anyone caught using a Mac will be subjected to the above torture.  Macs are the spawn of satan. Also anyone caught using an iPod will immediately be sent to there cubicle to rot forever by Balmer.
   
3. DRM is your friend. DRM protects our big nice cosy relationship with the big companies like Sony, BMG, Universal, EMI and others.
4. Anyone  caught with a picture of the following people in there procession will be made to kiss the feet of Steve Balmer and Bill Gates 48,000,000,000,000 times. Or however long it takes you to die or your lips to fall off, whichever comes first.
   Eric Smechit, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller, the Mac Guy from the "Get a Mac ads",Linux Torvalds and any one who is associated with Open Source community.

*sigh* When will they get it. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past several weeks, there's a new service out on the web that's being backed by Universal Music called SpiralFrog. Basically it'll let people have access to free music. However there are a number of strings attached. For one thing, the Music is heavily DRM'd. You can only play it on one computer and one device. And that device can't be an Ipod. The reason for that is this: The file format is WMV which is a Windows only proparitary format, which is not compatliable with the Ipod. This is a huge mistake in my opinion. Ipods have a 75% market share. So basically SpiralFrog is missing out on 75% of the Digital Music market. What kind of a marketing strategy is that? Just because you want  to have the music DRM'd to death doesn't mean you have to exclude 75% of the digital music market.WTF? What kind of genius though of this? Your going to exclude 75% of the digital music market in order to create a music service *sigh* And then there's another issue. The big string that Universal is attaching is the fact that along with the music-in the track there will be a 90 second ad. Okay. Not. That's why this music is free, because they get the revenue from the ads.
    You know? I'd rather pay for non-DRM'd music than have Free Music that's DRM'd *cough* allofmp3.com*cough eh, just thought I'd get my two cents in.
    School starts tomorrow*headdesk*, so expect a drop in number of blog posts. I'll post as often as I can though.
See ya later *leaves*