Microsoft Brings Back DRM 414
Barence writes "Microsoft yesterday unveiled its MSN Mobile Music service — and a surprise return to digital rights management (DRM). While companies such as Apple and Amazon have finally moved to music download services free of copy protection, MSN Mobile locks tracks to the mobile handset they are downloaded to. It also charges more than the other services per track, and offers no way to transfer your tracks to your new phone when you upgrade. The company's Head of Mobile UK spoke to PC Pro about the launch, but his answers are almost as baffling as the service itself. Best quote: Q: 'If I buy these songs on your service — and they're locked to my phone — what happens when I upgrade my phone in six months' time?' A: 'Well, I think you know the answer to that.'"
On the day Microsoft announces layoffs..... (Score:4, Interesting)
....you get morons sitting around a conference table convincing themselves that this is a good a idea. Microsoft reports revenue shortfalls because of wasteful, stupid ideas like this.
Hilarious... (Score:5, Interesting)
This guy's answers are hilarious. They only make sense in a universe where everything is inherently locked down, and your customers are idiots to be abused.
You don't really have to provide a "mechanism" if you just left the system open. If the files were non-DRM and the phone had an open interface (e.g. you plug in a USB cable and can browse/transfer files on it), then the transferring step is trivial.
Which, again, would be trivially easy with an open system. If the phone were open, I could download a track from Amazon and put it on my phone. So the only reason to use the MSN service is "because of lock-in."
And in response to the question:
Wow. Just... wow. That's impressive market research on their part. They are not sure how long people keep their cellphones. And they see no issue with requiring digital files to expire whenever the hardware does.
This overpriced and highly restricted product has a clear future ahead...
Re:Another Bomb Here to Stay (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Another Bomb Here to Stay (Score:3, Interesting)
Well now that ITunes is going DRM free the Zune is even less interesting.
Why? I think the Zune is more interesting now that iTunes is DRM-free. Now you can buy songs from iTunes and play them on your Zune.
Re:Another Bomb Here to Stay (Score:3, Interesting)
Xbox bomb? The XBox and 360 are actually doing pretty well. Now the Zune... Well now that ITunes is going DRM free the Zune is even less interesting. Too bad really. Competition is usually a good thing.
I was talking about how if any other company had entered the console market in the fashion that Microsoft did, they would have sank faster than the Titanic. Microsoft threw it's weight around and took losses heavily. You may argue that all console makers do but not on this level [bbc.co.uk]. Let me quote the BBC for you:
For the first time Microsoft is revealing how much money it is losing on its Xbox game console.
Documents filed with the US financial watchdog show that Microsoft's Home and Entertainment division, which includes the Xbox, lost $177m in the three months to 30 September.
Since the Xbox was launched Microsoft has been forced to cut its price twice to boost sales.
The documents also reveal that four of the seven divisions of the company are operating at a loss.
For a while they were just burning money there. I'm not saying it's a bad or inferior console, I am impressed with the Xbox360 but I will stand by my statement that the initial offering of the Xbox was a horrible move that lost them hundreds of millions--almost instantly! And for what? Entrance into another market, that's what. And they'll muscle their bullheaded ideas into this market too and shove it down your throat just like the Zune and Xbox. Wait long enough and the Zune will be forced to be part of the market just like the Xbox.
It's the one Microsoft way.
Re:Hilarious... (Score:5, Interesting)
You don't really have to provide a "mechanism" if you just left the system open. If the files were non-DRM and the phone had an open interface (e.g. you plug in a USB cable and can browse/transfer files on it), then the transferring step is trivial.
Not only that, but you're talking about Microsoft-- the company that makes the desktop OS on most PCs as well as the OS on a good percentage of smartphones. If they can't make a mechanism work on to sync between their own desktop OS and their own phone OS, they're pretty well f*#$ed.
Wow. Just... wow. That's impressive market research on their part. They are not sure how long people keep their cellphones. And they see no issue with requiring digital files to expire whenever the hardware does.
That's they don't know that people sometimes replace their phone within a year isn't the part that bothers me about that question. Hell, let's suppose that 12-18 months is too short an estimate of how long people hold onto their phones. Let's say, instead, that it's 5 years, which is a pretty high number. Still, let's go with that for the sake of argument. It still doesn't address the question-- "Can you really expect people to buy music that's locked to a device they upgrade every 5 years?"
Re:Clueless (Score:5, Interesting)
">I didn't realise phones were churning that quickly in the marketplace these days
How clueless can you be? This guy almost makes me feel good about the other news of the day (Microsoft to laying off 5,000)."
----
This jumped out at me as well. I suspect he was being both sarcastic and a little clueless. That was one of the last questions that was asked, many of them questioning the business model, pricing, DRM. This guy was looking for the "gee, what an exciting service!" kind of non-question. I suspect he was fed up with the questioner by this point.
I'm assuming he must understand the churn rate for phone, right? It's probably more than a year, less than two. But I can't imagine he would expect people to pay about $3.50 (1.79 pounds) for songs to throw away; at least he couldn't expect people to buy many songs at this price.
Perhaps he's counting on the phones being so locked down that you must buy the songs from MS?
Re:Clueless (Score:5, Interesting)
Man it really is as bad as the summary makes it.
With the likes of iTunes and Amazon offering DRM-free music that you can play on any device, why would anyone choose the MSN Mobile service?
There may well be people who just want to listen to the track on their mobile alone.
Yeah and there may well be people with severe OCD who purchase music from your store and then immediately delete it because the bits didn't download in the right order, but I wouldn't bet the farm on chasing that demographic.
Jesus, they seem to be basing the whole thing on the hope that they can trick people into thinking they have to buy music from the MSN store if they have a Windows Mobile device. What the hell is that shit about "loyal to MSN". What? If anyone uses MSN it's because it came up by default in IE and they're too stupid to figure out how to change it. My mom might use MSN, but you can be damn sure she's not going to be buying music for her mobile phone anytime soon. Way to know your audience there pal.
Good grief, someone needs to post a 24 hour guard by this guy, Ballmer is going to disappear his ass posthaste.
Re:Clueless (Score:1, Interesting)
I may be wrong but I've heard that Microsoft was replacing its UK head. To be sure our contact with them at work got some remarkably frank answers.
If this is the same guy, it may be that he's about to get the push and no longer gives a damn.
Re:Even longer (Score:1, Interesting)
The real question is, how much are labels still clinging to DRM? They are the only ones that really matter in the end. The agreement for all of them to sell DRM free music in more than one store was a watershed moment, but is this weird Microsoft arrangement something that had already been in the works or is it some new backsliding?
I wonder how much of this is down to Microsoft's future strategies.. They totally changed the way the audio & video drivers work in Vista/DX10 to support their DRM/TC strategies. Even though the labels are mostly supporting DRM-free music, Microsoft cant abandon all the stuff they spent so much time & money on.
Re:Hilarious... (Score:3, Interesting)
For higher end phones people might keep them for a few years, but in the UK a normal mobile phone contract (with a free phone) is 12 or 18 months. At the end of that I would expect (if they are anything like their US counterparts) they offer you another free phone if you'll sign for another 12 or 18 month contract.
People who get an iphone or whatever and probably pay upfront for part of the phone might just keep the one they have, but almost everyone who got the freeby (well embedded in the monthly charges) will take the new phone if they are happy with the service, or go elsewhere (and get a new phone from them) if they aren't.
Re:Clueless - Including Ballmer (Score:3, Interesting)
Here are some of Ballmer's comments from a conference call with analysts:
* "We think we have taken the right degree of action in terms of reducing the cost base."
* "We are taking out somewhere between 5 percent and 15 percent of the cost line... which we think, in this environment relative to the reset in the economy, is probably the right level."
* "Our model is not for a quick rebound (in PC sales)."
* "If the economy stays down and then builds slowly, we are probably at about the expense base... You can't tell. The economy could also get a whole lot worse."
They also said they are no longer going to provide earnings/profit estimates.
In other words, they have no clue how bad they are going down.
This is a good thing.
Re:Another Bomb Here to Stay (Score:5, Interesting)
It's sad to think of those affected (Score:5, Interesting)
I have very intelligent friends, usually over 30, that just have no idea about computers, and frankly don't care. It's as interesting to them as how their toaster works. They come to me with their computer issues and the phrase I hear often is, "I hate this. Technology is supposed to make life easier."
They're frustrated and rightfully so. Some will undoubtedly buy into crap like this, and not understand why they can't have their music anymore. They'll get frustrated, angry, or cry, and try silly things to put the music on their computer or new phones. Another phrase I hear often: "I was up half the night trying to get this to work."
The people who sell things like this are putting out a product they know to be inferior. They rationalize it with ideas like, "people have a choice" and "people may actually prefer this layout and never realize the drawbacks."
But in the end, my friends would have a bought a better product for less if this crap hadn't been around. And when they can't do what they thought they should be able to do, they don't know why, and they get very upset. Crap like this ruins the days of many, many people. It's avoidable and it's the fault of people who put plans like this into action.
They're screwing people over to make a buck, plain and simple.
Re:Clueless (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm no PR guy, I'm an engineer. And if I were put into Hugh Griffiths' shoes, I'm not so sure I'd have answered the questions any differently. He knows the product sucks: It's more expensive, non-transferable, and behind the times technically. He's probably IMMENSELY frustrated that they could only release this crap given the building products they have to work with. So, he grits his teeth, does an interview, and does his best to not say anything negative. But you can just tell he's disappointed.
If I were him, actually, I wouldn't have done the interview. That's probably his big mistake.
Re:Another Bomb Here to Stay (Score:3, Interesting)
Never had any PSN stability issues. I have a good connection at home so maybe that's it.
Re:Another Bomb Here to Stay (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Clueless (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Another Bomb Here to Stay (Score:3, Interesting)
The single most annoying thing about xbox live is getting kicked out when it detects an update for a game. It doesn't even wait until you accept the update, it just cuts you in the middle of your voice chat.