http://blog.andrewparker.net/2006/09/20/is-apple-the-aol-of-music-downloads/ Tech, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Capital in New York City Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:16:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://blog.andrewparker.net/2006/09/20/is-apple-the-aol-of-music-downloads/#comment-381 Nathan Dintenfass Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:40:24 +0000 http://blog.andrewparker.net/2006/09/20/is-apple-the-aol-of-music-downloads/#comment-381 But, isn't the difference that the content AOL had turned out not to be better enough than what was available "for free"? That is, for things to really change it's not just going to be about the closed vs. open model it's going to be about a sea change in the way people find music (and movies) -- it's the labels and studios that drive Apple to be so restrictive with the DRM (the "closed" model is a different story, perhaps) because, for now, their content is what people want. Looking at YouTube, for instance, seems to indicate that we are, in fact, seeing a change where people are just as happy to be entertained by amateurs -- by their peers -- as they are by the big studios. eMusic and other sources of independent music point to a similar change being possible in music content, but until the RIAA crowd catches a clue (good luck waiting on that) or "we" stop giving them so much power by valuing the music they own more highly things aren't going to change as significantly as they did when the open web made AOL's model obsolete within a matter of a few years. Think of it in terms of substitutes -- once the people who demand DRM no longer dominate ownership of the content people want, they will lose their power and, thus, their ability to force DRM down our throats. Long live peer publishing. But, isn’t the difference that the content AOL had turned out not to be better enough than what was available “for free”? That is, for things to really change it’s not just going to be about the closed vs. open model it’s going to be about a sea change in the way people find music (and movies) — it’s the labels and studios that drive Apple to be so restrictive with the DRM (the “closed” model is a different story, perhaps) because, for now, their content is what people want. Looking at YouTube, for instance, seems to indicate that we are, in fact, seeing a change where people are just as happy to be entertained by amateurs — by their peers — as they are by the big studios. eMusic and other sources of independent music point to a similar change being possible in music content, but until the RIAA crowd catches a clue (good luck waiting on that) or “we” stop giving them so much power by valuing the music they own more highly things aren’t going to change as significantly as they did when the open web made AOL’s model obsolete within a matter of a few years. Think of it in terms of substitutes — once the people who demand DRM no longer dominate ownership of the content people want, they will lose their power and, thus, their ability to force DRM down our throats. Long live peer publishing.

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