There’s a lot to hate about Digital Rights Management (DRM.) The bulk of the bad has been chronicled here and elsewhere. Untold compatibility issues with MP3 players and car stereos are the most common complaints. Sony’s use of malware-enabling rootkits on their flavor of DRM made unprecedented waves in the media and even grabbed the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. A recent Zeropaid article called attention to Sony’s newest creation in the protected media stripe, the Universal Media Disc. Speculation is running rampant about the possibility of Sony’s popular PSP device ceasing to function as a handheld movie player as a result of UMD.
But these and similar complaints are all common to DRM. That isn’t to say they aren’t valid. Nearly every community or subject has its age-old discussion topic. But instead of focusing on the known evils, I want to call attention to another problem area: the adverse impact of DRM technology on CD reviews.
I frequent sites like Amazon to read reviews of my favorite artists’ work. It’s not even something I necessarily do in deciding whether or not to buy an album. Sometimes, I just enjoy knowing what other like-minded fans think about a particular album. I value the simple joy of learning what the average Joe thinks of the song selection on Alice in Chains’ “Best Hits”or whether the recording scheme on “Binaural” is really all that groundbreaking. But it’s not so fun or easy to go about perusing these reviews when DRM crashes the party. When popular artists (or their record labels) use DRM, the complaints about the DRM and its limitations crowd out discussion about the actual music, sometimes overshadowing it entirely.
Two recent examples of great reviews ruined by DRM spring to mind. The Foo Fighters’ latest studio release, “In Your Honor” and Velvet Revolver’s “Contraband” both incorporated various forms of DRM “protection” into their discs. As a result, legitimate music-related discussion was drowned in a sea of complaints about DRM, making the hunt for substance a painstaking chore. Indeed, several fans sharing my mindset have opined with their own reviews asking that people please take their DRM gripes elsewhere, but to no avail.
I guess there’s really no solution to this problem. The use of DRM on CDs containing popular music is a topic worthy of discussion and it’s natural to expect some of that discussion to seep into reviews. It just sucks when music takes a backseat to that which prevents you from hearing music. Just one more thing to throw in the “DRM Sucks” toolbox, methinks.
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Dont try and silence those complaining about drm its those people who are mad that can change things back to what they should be. If you do not inform the masses the masses learn to late and take it up the ass.
I can’t enjoy music & movies as much as I used to anymore because with the entertainment industry suing its own customers & DRMs. They just sucks the fun I had out of it! Entertainment?
I saw this story last week but I forgot to bark how funny it actually is! Thanks for keeping me on my toes but then Dogs are always on their toes I guess..