930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: HoyaSaxa03 on June 15, 2005, 09:55:00 am
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What's this technology that's being used on the new Foo Fighters album? My friend bought it yesterday and said he can't rip it to MP3 or play it on his computer. I looked on allmusic and found this:
[In Your Honor was released in two editions: a copy-protected CD that will not play on your computer without installing a separate media player, and a DualDisc, containing a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. The DualDisc has a 5.1 mix version of the album on the DVD side, along with a very informative and entertaining documentary about the making of the album, tracing it from pre-production through the construction of a studio and to the recording of the two albums. The CD side of the DualDisc would not register on this reviewer's computer, although it did play on a CD player.]
does this mean it's impossible to rip this into MP3s? there must be an easy way around this, like everything else ...
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Take it back to the store. Demand your money back.
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wow, i would be really fucking pissed if i was a foo fighters fan ... no respect at all ...
what's really funny, is that on the band's OFFICIAL message board, the admins are posting ways around the copy protection:
http://www.foofighters.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=8335 (http://www.foofighters.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=8335)
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Take it back to the store. Demand your money back.
or vandalize the store
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http://www.sunncomm.com/support/sonybmg/ (http://www.sunncomm.com/support/sonybmg/)
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
http://www.sunncomm.com/support/sonybmg/ (http://www.sunncomm.com/support/sonybmg/)
Like I said, take it back to the store.
If they (Sony, EMI, whoever) are going to be dicks about it and make you jump through hoops just to use their product, and a dozen more hoops to put it on your iPod, then you should refuse to buy the record.
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
If they (Sony, EMI, whoever) are going to be dicks about it and make you jump through hoops just to use their product, and a dozen more hoops to put it on your iPod, then you should refuse to buy the record.
i agree 100% ... do you think the band knew this was happening to their album? seems like a really dick move to pull on their fans, and i'm sure they're not making any new friends with it.
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The Dead 60's CD requires you to load software to listen to it on a PC... So much for being "punk"
Who else is sick of seeing this plastered all over thier CDs.
<img src="http://hi-fipop.com/sealofbs.jpg" alt=" - " />
On one CD I counted four seperate warnings about piracy. The irony of the situation is that of that last batch of CDs I got the ones enjoyed most were the ones without this seal and on indie labels. Nic Armstrong (NewWest Records) and Maximo Park (Warp).
Does this type of copy protection work against a standalone CD Burner? Silly silly record exec... Has the cost of cocaine and hookers gone up again?
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
If they (Sony, EMI, whoever) are going to be dicks about it and make you jump through hoops just to use their product, and a dozen more hoops to put it on your iPod, then you should refuse to buy the record.
i agree 100%[/b]
I agree too...I understand the desire to thwart illegal copying and sharing, but I bought it and I want it on my goddamn iPod. Blech.
That said, I just ordered the "dual disc" from Tower Records so I can get the DVD...
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note the last paragraph ... d'oh!
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Two Platters, Few Tasty Morsels From Foo Fighters
By Sean Daly
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, June 15, 2005; Page C01
Young, restless rock star Dave Grohl must feel a whole lot older than his 36 years. Raised in the Washington area, the well-worn talent has already amassed a whirlwind résumé: former drummer for genre-defining grungers Nirvana, current front man for best-selling pop-rockers the Foo Fighters, maniac behind speed-metal project Probot, prolific special-guest drummer for such big, bad bands as Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails.
Then there's his Ozzyload of personal travails: dealing with Kurt Cobain's death, Kurt Cobain's widow and, to some extent, Kurt Cobain's looming legacy -- even though Grohl has proven just as talented as the accursed Bard of Seattle. (Save your stamps, flannel flock. You know it's true.)
The Foo Fighters -- whose fifth album, "In Your Honor," was released yesterday -- have gone through all manner of rocky lineup changes. Still, the band has been good therapy for the foremost Foo, who has shared his life on a cocky post-Nirvana debut, a pop-based follow-up, a high-concept third outing and a fourth album devoted to bad love.
Grohl even invented a profitable new sound along the way, smoothly blending grunge's anger with sleek, clean choruses that shine like SoCal sunsets.
So with all that history, and with all those rock-star cliches under his belt, what's a Foo to do to keep things interesting?
Why, make a big, bloated double album, of course, with 10 tracks devoted to rage and rumble, and another 10 of whispery, acoustic-based ballads. A celebration of the band's 10th anniversary -- drummer Taylor Hawkins, guitarist Chris Shiflett and bassist Nate Mendel complete the quartet -- this is the album that will forever divide Foo fans into Those Who Liked "In Your Honor" and Those Who Returned "In Your Honor" And Used the Money to Buy Another Back Tattoo.
Grohl has said "In Your Honor" is a gift to his fans, an outpouring of his cumulative thoughts and emotions. The disappointing truth, however, is that despite the twin-platter presentation, the album often sounds uninspired. For the first time, Grohl just doesn't have that much to say: The songs are Matchbox 20 deep at best. Imagine a Foo Fighters album without the window-smashing highs and a lot fewer singalongs. It's not bad -- but it ain't all that great, either.
You could even say that Grohl has already made this album, and he did it much better the first time. The phenomenal "There Is Nothing Left to Lose" (1999) was a conceptual travelogue as Grohl and Co. lambasted the phoniness of Los Angeles with a handful of ferocious slapshots then "musically" moved across the country to Virginia, where the honesty and realness of the Old Dominion was celebrated with tingly alt-country charmers.
Not only was it a smart idea, but almost all of the songs were endlessly catchy and radio dynamite. "In Your Honor" also addresses Grohl's split personality, but here there's no genuine emotion -- on the hard songs or the soft -- and most of those glorious hooks have gone missing.
Before getting lost in a loud, lackluster drone of chugga-chugga power chords and ho-hum aggression, Disc 1 holds a few fine moments. The title track gets hard, harder, hardest, with Grohl's underrated voice unleashing that trademark two-step of throat-scraping rebel yells and Beach Boys-style sunniness. "No Way Back" and "Best of You" sound like surly leftovers from 2002's breakup disc "One by One," with Grohl going from solemn to Satanic in seconds, and Hawkins -- think the Muppets' Animal in human form -- flailing away with a sinister sense of rhythm. The album's best cut, "DOA," is an apocalyptic mosh of "we're doomed" lyrics -- "It's a shame we have to die my dear / No one's getting out of here alive" -- and an out-of-nowhere chorus that you could surf, too.
A few synthy swirls and prickly guitar work appear here and there on the perilously mellow Disc 2, but there just aren't enough twists to keep the pretty approach from becoming pretty dull. Opening song "Still" ("If you'd like to walk awhile / We could waste a day") stands out as the best tune on the soft side, but perhaps that's because I listened to the discs back-to-back and my ears were thankful for the rest. And "What If I Do" has an easy-breezy campfire charm and a wistful vibe.
Significant ballyhoo has surrounded jazz-folkstress Norah Jones's cameo on "In Your Honor," but her duet with Grohl, "Virginia Moon," will no doubt induce cringes back at the Foo Fan Club. Sure, she knows her slinky way around a bossa nova, but Grohl sounds like a hobo who wandered in off the street.
Album closer "Razor" starts off as a classical gas, as Grohl and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme trade fluttery guitar parts back and forth. But then the lyrics kick in -- "Sweet and divine / Razor of mine" -- and things go bad-teen-poetry in a hurry.
If you take both discs and do a little iPod paring, there's a nice mix to be had here. Taken as a massive whole, however, "In Your Honor" gives Grohl a dubious new entry on his otherwise impressive résumé: "career disappointment."
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Hoya, what are they saying on the Foo bulletin board? I can't get in (I'm a member...), I keep getting:
There seems to have been a slight problem with the database.
Please try again by pressing the refresh button in your browser.
An E-Mail has been dispatched to our Technical Staff, who you can also contact if the problem persists.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
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Anybody know if it will rip on a Mac? I've purchased several copy-protected discs before and I've been able to rip them on my Mac every time. It seems the CD copy protection that I've encountered so far has only worked on Windows. I'm just wondering if the Foo Fighters disc uses the same kind of copy protection.
The Foo Fighters forum appears to be down.... Pissed off fans who can't rip their CDs?
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Originally posted by Bags:
Hoya, what are they saying on the Foo bulletin board? I can't get in (I'm a member...), I keep getting:
There seems to have been a slight problem with the database.
Please try again by pressing the refresh button in your browser.
An E-Mail has been dispatched to our Technical Staff, who you can also contact if the problem persists.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
I'm getting the same message ... i assume they're being swamped with a) normally big traffic for an album release b) people looking for answers on how to get the album onto their ipod
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Originally posted by Darth Ed:
The Foo Fighters forum appears to be down.... Pissed off fans who can't rip their CDs?
I think they're in the midst of re-doing the whole website. You can go to different sections of the website (ie, news, tour, shows), but there's no content there yet. They're certainly redesigning the page to all have the look of "In Your Honour" -- they did the same for "One by One." (A couple days ago the whole website was pretty much blank...)
This should really have been done before the release date of the album, though...
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-edit- Woops
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I know the new Dave Matthews Band CD also pulled the thing with the jump through hoops...really, its a slap in the face of the people who actually buy the disc and only want to rip it for the ipods....
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Fair use as you know it has been destroyed. If the music companies expect us to buy a CD copy and a digital copy of music, then now, the Federal Gov will finally listen - I guarantee you.
Sony has gotten itself in a quandry worse than Apple could ever do. Sony Music has made Sony audio devices very problematic to use, with even their own music. Sony music has actually sued other Sony divisions over technology enabling Mp3 playback. Oh what a tangled web we weave....
And of all things, you've got a UK firm to thank: http://www.first4internet.com (http://www.first4internet.com)
These music CDs have an embedded DRM (Digital Rights Management) system, which would allow no digital copies to be made of the disc. In addition, the user will only be able to make a limited number of physical copies of the disc. Sony has plans to immediately release ten titles to test this scheme, but has refused to elaborate on which ones.
Thus far it looks like DMB and the Foos were first out of the gate...
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June 14, 2005
Sony BMG Tries to Limit Copying of Latest CD's
By JEFF LEEDS
The world's second-biggest music corporation is rolling out its latest answer to digital piracy.
The company, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which is owned by Sony and Bertelsmann, is outfitting a broad selection of its latest CD's with software that restricts copying.
The company's use of the software, which is designed to limit consumers to making no more than three copies of a CD, reflects an effort to alter a format that is two decades old and contains music that can be readily copied and digitally distributed.
With the release of more than two dozen copy-restricted titles so far this year, including albums on sale today from the Backstreet Boys, the Foo Fighters and George Jones, Sony BMG is placing a bigger bet on the technology than other companies have, particularly in the United States, the world's biggest market. Sony BMG, which is second in size to Vivendi Universal-owned Universal Music Group, and the two other major record companies have been releasing CD's with anti-copying software in other countries.
But executives at Sony BMG's rivals have been reluctant to release titles with the restrictive software in the United States. They said the software was too easily defeated and that working versions did not allow consumers to transfer music to portable devices and music players as freely as the industry would like.
The companies have been pressing Apple Computer to amend its software to make it compatible with the tools used to restrict copying.
The restrictive software Sony BMG is using on CD's, like it did earlier this year with "Stand Up" by the Dave Matthews Band - is not compatible with Apple's popular iPod. Owners of Apple computers using iPods are able to copy and transfer music on the restricted compact discs freely; the restrictions block PC owners from transferring music to their iPods. But it allows transfers to music players using Microsoft's Windows software.
Thomas Hesse, president for global digital business at Sony BMG, said Apple could "flick a switch" to amend its programming to work with the restrictive software.
"Its just a proprietary decision by Apple to decide whether to play along or not," Mr. Hesse said. "I don't know what more waiting we have to do. We think we need to move this forward. Time is ticking, infringement of intellectual property is happening all over, and we've got to put a stop to it I think."
Apple declined to comment.
Mike McGuire, an analyst at Gartner G2, said the move by Sony BMG "looks to me like a very interesting public negotiation."
In fact, consumers requesting help through a Web site set up by Sony BMG to explain the technology receive an e-mail message telling how PC users can work around the CD's software to unlock the music files and make them available for unlimited copying and transferring.
Music executives say the restricted CD's the music industry has released so far - most prominently BMG's sale of Velvet Revolver's "Contraband," last year - have resulted in virtually no consumer complaints. But analysts say that may be because consumers still have such an easy time breaking the restrictions or acquiring the music for free on unrestricted online file-sharing networks.
Still, Mr. Hesse said the introduction of limits on CD's would set the stage for record companies establish new business models. For instance, Mr. Hesse said, a record company using restrictive software might be able to charge a premium for the early online release of a forthcoming album. Mr. Hesse said the restricted CDs are "a strong educational tool to communicate to consumers that there is a limit of what they're really allowed to do with the intellectual property that they have just acquired."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/business/media/14music.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/business/media/14music.html)
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
The Dead 60's CD requires you to load software to listen to it on a PC... So much for being "punk"
Who else is sick of seeing this plastered all over thier CDs.
<img src="http://hi-fipop.com/sealofbs.jpg" alt=" - " />
On one CD I counted four seperate warnings about piracy. The irony of the situation is that of that last batch of CDs I got the ones enjoyed most were the ones without this seal and on indie labels. Nic Armstrong (NewWest Records) and Maximo Park (Warp).
Does this type of copy protection work against a standalone CD Burner? Silly silly record exec... Has the cost of cocaine and hookers gone up again?
Is the Dead 60s album out over there or are you talking about a cd single? The album has been delayed coming out in the UK for a couple of months but the promo cds are available now. There's no problem listening to them or ripping the tracks to mp3's.
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That's the article I read. Thanks GGW for posting it.
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It's the full length Dead 60's CD out recently in the US... when I popped the CD into my work computer it promptly wanted me to install software in order to even listen to the thing... Same with the an import Doves disc i won in a giveway. i'm certain it's the same copy protection software and was trying to find the logo to post here.
i will never pay retail again for any cd that has that protection even if it's easily defeated. may buy it used or if it's something i really want directly from the artist at a show.
if consumers want to take a stand against these technologies then they need to boycott all Sony and Universal products. tough sell i admit.
or get creative and make a coordinated effort to mass buy a CD at some retailer and then attempt to return it the next day. make the retailer cope with pain as well..
it's great how Apple is protrayed as the bad actor in this battle...
and if all else fails buy a cd recorder and hookup a opitical digital cable.,,
or find the person on the street selling the cdr
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Originally posted by vansmack:
That's the article I read. Thanks GGW for posting it.
There was a similar LA Times article yesterday which included this nugget:
"Sony BMG is heading even faster down the same road. About half of the discs it releases in the United States today have the three-copy limit, and it plans to have a similar restriction on all of its U.S. releases by the end of the year, said Thomas Hesse, president of the companyâ??s global digital music business."
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
"Its just a proprietary decision by Apple to decide whether to play along or not," Mr. Hesse said.
Okay, wait, who's being proprietary here. Argument can be made just as easily that it's Microsoft, my friend. You telling me they can't just flip a software switch as well?
All I can say is thank god no one bothers to write restrictions or viruses for Apple hardware. I would lose my mind if I couldn't get my Foo on my iPod...
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Originally posted by vansmack:
That's the article I read. Thanks GGW for posting it.
There was a similar LA Times article yesterday which included this nugget:
"Sony BMG is heading even faster down the same road. About half of the discs it releases in the United States today have the three-copy limit, and it plans to have a similar restriction on all of its U.S. releases by the end of the year, said Thomas Hesse, president of the companyâ??s global digital music business." [/b]
which is why consumers need to take them on now, not that i buy much sony stuff to begin with...
buy promos screw the artist and the label...
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Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
[qb]All I can say is thank god no one bothers to write restrictions or viruses for Apple hardware. [/b]
Who's going to waste their time writing code that will effect 8 % of the market?
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Originally posted by vansmack:
Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
[qb]All I can say is thank god no one bothers to write restrictions or viruses for Apple hardware. [/b]
Who's going to waste their time writing code that will effect 8 % of the market? [/b]
yeah yeah yeah....all the more reason I stay.
<img src="http://pages.prodigy.net/indianahawkeye/newpage17/14.gif" alt=" - " />
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it would interesting to see the bloggers reaction to the cd which can't be copied to their iPods. dmb and foos aren't good test cases, but Holey Moley would it get ugly if the next Firey Furnances CD was released like that...
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
it would interesting to see the bloggers reaction to the cd which can't be copied to their iPods. dmb and foos aren't good test cases, but Holey Moley would it get ugly if the next Firey Furnances CD was released like that...
I think the exact opposite is true. Bloggers are fairly tech and internet literate and can quickly and easily find out how to defeat the copy controls.
It's the more pop oriented and casual computer users that buy the DMB album and the Foo's that wouldn't know how to get around it that could potentially make the biggest stink.
Just imagine a kid going up to their parents and asking for $10 more to buy the iTunes version of a CD they just bought at Target so it can play on the kids iPod. I can see it a local news expose as I type this....
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wow, that's terrible. even if i bought that cd, i'd download it rather than go through the crack. kinda counter poductive, if you ask me
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Kosmo: I LOOOOVVVVEEE the Nic Armstrong and the Thieves CD; they were great at the Black Cat last month opening for Louis XIV!!!!! Next "Hey Seth" thread, I'm making an official request. ;)
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Originally posted by vansmack:
Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
it would interesting to see the bloggers reaction to the cd which can't be copied to their iPods. dmb and foos aren't good test cases, but Holey Moley would it get ugly if the next Firey Furnances CD was released like that...
I think the exact opposite is true. Bloggers are fairly tech and internet literate and can quickly and easily find out how to defeat the copy controls.
It's the more pop oriented and casual computer users that buy the DMB album and the Foo's that wouldn't know how to get around it that could potentially make the biggest stink.
Just imagine a kid going up to their parents and asking for $10 more to buy the iTunes version of a CD they just bought at Target so it can play on the kids iPod. I can see it a local news expose as I type this.... [/b]
true bloggers are more tech savvy.. but they also like to get up in arms about such barriers and wont take kindly to Apple being protrayed as a bad player in this issue.
whats so funny about this whole madness is what its going to cost sony/bmg in manpower to deal with all these requests for support. of course those costs get passed right back to the artists...
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Just an FYI on dual disks, Im not tech savy mind you, but I cant get the cd side to copy, or load on my mp3 player.
The benifits of these disks do rule. The 5.1 mixes are great, but it does suck.
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i've heard you cant play the dual disc in slot loading players like car stereos... or you end up scratching the dvd side
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i need to go back and read some on the dual dics but i recall that the cd is not a standard format and get tripped up in players expecting a strict redbook(?) format
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Yeah man, I just keep em' with my dvdaudio disks, and only use them in the dvd player. So whats the point of the cd side? nada. But I do still like the concept. Anything to get more releases in a 5.1 format.
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Originally posted by Darth Ed:
Anybody know if it will rip on a Mac? I've purchased several copy-protected discs before and I've been able to rip them on my Mac every time. It seems the CD copy protection that I've encountered so far has only worked on Windows. I'm just wondering if the Foo Fighters disc uses the same kind of copy protection.
I know it's bad forum etiquette to answer your own question, but no one else did. :) I just got back from Target where I picked it up for $9.98+tax (yeah, I know, but there's a Target about a mile from where I work), and I just popped both discs into my Mac, ripped them, and am copying them to my iPod as I write this...
Copy protection? What copy protection? :D
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
i've heard you cant play the dual disc in slot loading players like car stereos... or you end up scratching the dvd side
f***, f***, f***....
Well, I've got a mac, so I can download a friend's copy, right?
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Never mind, I'll head to Target!
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
It's the full length Dead 60's CD out recently in the US... when I popped the CD into my work computer it promptly wanted me to install software in order to even listen to the thing... Same with the an import Doves disc i won in a giveway. i'm certain it's the same copy protection software and was trying to find the logo to post here.
Was the Doves cd a UK import? I have the UK edition and there is no copy protection on the disc and you don't need any special software to listen to it on the pc. I buy a lot of music over here and haven't seen any yet with that copy protection.
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<img src="http://www.fnac.com/help/img/logo_copy.gif" alt=" - " />
This logo plus the phrase "Copy Controlled" or "Content Protected" are now the international do not buy signs.
The Doves CD that came with the Copy Control sw on the cd was the import version with the CD & DVD.
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if anyone cares about what was posted at that thread, i copied the text before it was taken down.
Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
wow, i would be really fucking pissed if i was a foo fighters fan ... no respect at all ...
what's really funny, is that on the band's OFFICIAL message board, the admins are posting ways around the copy protection:
http://www.foofighters.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=8335 (http://www.foofighters.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=8335)
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Originally posted by Chip Chanko:
if anyone cares about what was posted at that thread, i copied the text before it was taken down.
I'd be interested. Do post.
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It should be interesting to note that any EMI CD that has the copy controlled software loaded on it is not labelled as a Compact Disc because it does not meet the specifications as set by Phillips. It's a propritary format not guarenteed to play in all CD players.
I popped in the Doves CD which has the Cactus protection installed and although it insists on wanting to install special sw to play Windowz media player started playing. Easily defeatable but nonetheless a pain in the arse...
Pop in the Dead 60's CD and you presented with a lengthy End User License Agreement, which you must agree to before you can proceed. I'm sure buried somewhere in the agreement is a clause that says SonyBMG can sue the pants of you if one doesn't abhere to the agreement. The CD pops out if you don't agree to the EULA. Can't quite figure out what method is being used. Although I would suspect it's the same as the Foo Fighters release. I wonder if these CDs meet the Redbook standard.
If one wanted to give Sony a headache calling there 800 number to complain about defective CDs in mass could do it.
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Can we not simply hold down SHIFT after putting the CD in and bypass all this nonsense, or have they gotten smarter?
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holding shift down only prevents the autoplay from kicking in... i still can't see the audio tracks on the cd... there are ways to defeat this..
this bit being sent out to people requesting assistance in moving the songs to the iPod is priceless.
"Please note an easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation from Apple, who we have already reached out to in hopes of addressing this issue."
Come on down Apple and bend over and insert our copy protection schema up your core.
Note sure how prevalent this in anymore in Europe but some of the copy protection schemes being used were downright scary. There tales of people having to take in slot loading Macs in for repair because the copy protected CD was recognized by the OS and thus could not be ejected. CDs manufactured with less scratch resistence, shorter shelf life. Ugh...
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
<img src="http://www.fnac.com/help/img/logo_copy.gif" alt=" - " />
This logo plus the phrase "Copy Controlled" or "Content Protected" are now the international do not buy signs.
The Doves CD that came with the Copy Control sw on the cd was the import version with the CD & DVD.
Weird! I have a store bought copy of the cd with the dvd and there are no symbols like that on either disc. I have no problem playing the cd on my pc or ripping the songs to mp3's.
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Originally posted by BadSushi:
Kosmo: I LOOOOVVVVEEE the Nic Armstrong and the Thieves CD; they were great at the Black Cat last month opening for Louis XIV!!!!! Next "Hey Seth" thread, I'm making an official request. ;)
According to Nic's website they are playing July 15th with the Bravery and The Dead 60's... My prediction is that awhole lot of people will be leaving the club prior to the Bravery.
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washingtonpost.com
Burners' Bummer
New Software Guards CDs From Copiers, and the Mix Culture Doesn't Like It
By Anjali Athavaley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 19, 2005; F01
Ben Freedland did two things that his fellow college students have been doing routinely for the past several years: First, he bought a new music CD by campus fave the Dave Matthews Band, then he tried to upload it onto his Apple iPod.
But something was wrong. When Freedland, 20, first inserted the "Stand Up" disc into his laptop in preparation for transferring it to his iPod, "it took over my computer," he said.
The screen went blank, then a copyright agreement popped up. The music wasn't going anywhere. Freedland could play the CD on his laptop, but he couldn't transfer it, and he couldn't copy it to share the mellow grooves with friends or family.
Freedland deemed the CD "worthless."
The Duke University student had had his first run-in with a technology that record companies are using to limit the number of times users can burn, or make extra copies of, CDs. The new content-protected disc, which is not yet compatible with the iPod, is the recording industry's latest strategy to curb the illegal spread of music. This time, the crackdown is on the CD purchased at your local music shop -- the last bastion consumers held in freely sharing legally bought music.
It's one thing for record companies to file suit against people who share music files illegally on the Internet, or to pursue criminal charges against those who make pirated copies of CDs and sell them on street corners. But this is different. Generations have grown up with the notion that if you buy an album at the store, the songs are yours to show off to your friends.
In the 1970s and '80s, people made mix tapes without thinking twice. The tapes were an expression of personality. "A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do," Nick Hornby wrote in "High Fidelity," a novel in which mix tapes served as the very definition of identity and the currency of relationships.
With the death of the cassette tape, that same mentality transferred to the mix CD. It became a birthday gift, a wedding compilation, a way to say "sorry" or "I love you." In college dorms, students started exchanging CD albums so that a hardcore Nirvana fan could try a little Garth Brooks without having to pay for the whole CD.
But the technology got too good. Copies of CDs sound just as clear as the originals -- unlike cassette tapes, which always had some level of hiss. And with the rise of the Internet and online file-sharing, suddenly it became possible to share with several thousand "friends" at a time.
Such behavior is being blamed by the industry for a dramatic drop in sales of CDs and other forms of recorded music. Over the past five years, shipments of music to retailers have dropped by 21 percent, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
"There is no question that piracy -- in its various, ugly forms -- is the primary reason for that decline," said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive officer of the association, in a written statement. "In the face of such devastating and ongoing harm, it is appropriate that record companies find ways to facilitate the continued investment in new art."
So in a move that risks alienating a dwindling customer base, the major record labels are tightening up restrictions on CDs.
A growing number of newly released CDs are equipped with software that limits users from burning copies more than three times. On CDs released by record company Sony BMG Music Entertainment, individual songs can be used in compilations only three times.
Rival EMI Music will test CDs with a similar technology this summer, releasing three to six titles with a three-time burn limit on each album. (No, you can't make copies of burned CDs -- the content protection won't allow it.) In addition, consumers can copy an individual song up to seven times. Both EMI Music and Sony BMG use technology that prevents the songs from working on peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa, which contain songs in MP3 format.
This juncture in technology is a tricky proposition for music lovers, who often say they support artists' rights to combat piracy. Yet, when it comes to individual use, they assert ownership of their CDs with an almost parental pride.
Steve Coleman, 43, said he prefers to buy his music at local CD stores rather than download songs online. Sporting a black T-shirt, a Harley-Davidson cap and long blond hair in a ponytail, he looks like the epitome of the old-school music junkie. One recent afternoon he flipped through the racks at Melody Record Shop on Connecticut Avenue NW, searching for New Order's latest release.
In his high school days, Coleman made mix tapes of his favorite rock and dance tunes for his friends, and other kids would invite him to parties to play his Led Zeppelin and Donna Summer records. Today he's a deejay, and he gives burned CD mixes to potential clients who want to know his musical tastes.
"I paid for it," Coleman said. "I should be able to do what I want with it, as long as I'm not breaking the law by giving it away to all my friends en masse, which is ridiculous."
But CD loyalists are divided on that issue. Greg Shadley, who works in the campus ministry office at Georgetown University, takes two buses and a train to get to his job every day. His iPod and his jumbo headphones accompany him every step of the way, he said.
Shadley, 49, even listens to his playlists at work. He prefers classical music, but he also rocks out to bands like the Grateful Dead and the Doors. He hates downloading music off the Internet unless it's absolutely necessary.
The content-protection technology would not keep him from buying an album, Shadley said, because he doesn't like to share music out of respect for the artists, who stand to lose royalties every time someone copies a tune instead of paying for it. Shadley used to work at a Tower Records downtown and hated watching kids buy the latest pop CD to lend to all their friends.
A newer generation of music lover views things somewhat differently. Around the George Washington University campus, students said they understand the record industry's reasons for combating music piracy. But they also acknowledged that it wouldn't stop them from sharing CDs with their friends or downloading free music.
Emily Mannie teaches a spinning class and likes to sample music online before deciding if it's worthy enough for her music mixes. She says she respects artists' rights and understands why the recording industry is setting boundaries. But she still downloads illegally because, well, it's free. The average college student pocketbook isn't very full of money.
"It's like speeding," said Mannie, a 28-year-old graduate student. "I know I shouldn't speed, but I have to get there."
If she comes across an artist she finds appealing, she's willing to invest in a CD. For example, when the rock band the Killers first got big, she wanted to hear more than just the hit single "Mr. Brightside" before buying the album. If she hadn't listened to the songs online, she doesn't know if she would have been willing to go to a record store to buy the CD.
Getting a taste of the music online and buying the album seem to go hand in hand. Consumers who spend the most money on music usually buy a mix of digital music and CDs, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm.
"Everyone likes to think this is a zero-sum game, and that's not necessarily going to be the case," said Russ Crupnick, president of NPD's music and movies division.
For their part, record companies say content protection won't hurt sales. The technology is meant to target music pirates who burn more than a reasonable amount of purchased CDs.
The CDs that have content protection say so in a label on the disc. If consumers try to get around it, they should know that their actions are illegal, said Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business for Sony BMG.
"If you go over a speed bump, you know you went over a speed bump," Hesse said. "They know that when they do so, it might be dangerous and it is illegal."
Those bumps don't seem to slow down some music lovers who just won't quit until they have the song they want. According to Yankee Group, the crackdown on peer-to-peer networks isn't effectively cutting into music file sharing.
In some ways the iPod, with its vast storehouse of music files, has become the mix tape of the digital age. It is a soundtrack to everyday life. Whether it's riding on the rail or walking to work in the summer heat, people are constantly moving to a rhythm.
The recording industry knows it must keep up with the beat. The new CDs are not compatible with the iPod. Both Sony and EMI are in talks with Apple to try to solve the problem.
As technological advances empower consumers, the free flow of music continues to spill over the boundaries set by the recording industry. Last week, Freedland, the Duke University student, downloaded free tracks from the new Dave Matthews Band CD from a peer-to-peer network. They are now on his iPod, ready for listening.
"It seemed like an entitlement," Freedland said. "I purchased the music, and I should be able to do what I want with it. Now I can."
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
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I think most of the copy controlling is in Europe so far. Some LCD Soundsystem fans from over there complained on the band's forum about it. James was pissed; apparently, EMI copy-controls all of its new releases, even those under a market/manufacture arrangement such as LCD.
Over here I think Sony/BMG may be the most aggressive so far, but they're still only doing it to their really big stars (DMB, FF). I'm tempted to buy a CD with the latest copy-protection scheme to see how easy it is to crack but I don't know of any that I would want. Besides DMB and FF, what else is being "protected"?
Oh yeah, I love how the CP sticker says that the disc is designed to play on "an appropriately configured system" or something like that. Just who defines "appropriate"? I bet that wouldn't hold up in court.
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newest Foo is... Josh Freese (https://variety.com/2023/music/news/foo-fighters-josh-freese-exits-offspring-danny-elfman-1235614724/)??
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He has always been the odds on favorite so would not surprise me.
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He has always been the odds on favorite so would not surprise me.
What book was laying down odds on this? I need to wager on musicians joining washed up bands.
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(https://media.tenor.com/bmEepvQteaIAAAAd/yes-meryl-streep.gif)
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Sorry Julian….for high rollers by invite only
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Sorry Julian….for high rollers by invite only
Thats fine. I’ll start my own casino. With sex workers and top-shelf cocktails! Actually, scratch the book making.
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(https://media.tenor.com/bmEepvQteaIAAAAd/yes-meryl-streep.gif)
AGREED - i too am super stoked that Freese will be joining them!!!
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He has always been the odds on favorite so would not surprise me.
confirmed (https://variety.com/2023/music/news/foo-fighters-new-drummer-livestream-1235620759/)