Steve Jobs[wiki] has posed an open letter that calls for the end of DRM by the music industry. Crazy idea? No. Crazy to be hearing from Steve Jobs? Perhaps a little, but that’s because we’ve been subjected to DRM[wiki] controlled music being sold by Apple since iTunes first came about.
It’s that stuff that prevents you from copying a purchased song file a certain amount of times. For those who download their music illegally, this isn’t a problem, and that’s why they do it. You can copy and move that MP3 where you damn well please. If you are going to be restricted by buying the copyrighted version of what you can already get for free, you’re not going back once you’ve tasted the sweet, sweet candy.
On top of that news today, I find it incredibly fascinating that Ozzfest has made the following announcement.
That’s right, OZZY and SHARON OSBOURNE and tour producer LIVE NATION broke the news today at the Concert Industry Consortium in Los Angeles that their 12th annual hard rock spectacular–a 25-date extravaganza launching July 7 in Los Angeles–is pulling the plug on ticket prices and giving the power back to the fans calling this summer’s OZZFEST “FreeFest.” The other OZZFEST cities as of now are San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Nashville. Note: a final confirmed list of cities and dates is forthcoming. [ozzfest]
That’s right, this sucker is going to be free. I’m not a huge fan of the Ozzfest, but this is pretty substantial. If you can get there, you get in for nothing. Actually, I see this being like one huge commercial all over the place with music intertwined, not to mention a ton of metal-heads. The food, water, booze, and merchandise will probably still be overpriced, but if you can survive without it, you get in for free? Great concept, but I feel like there is a catch in there somewhere. Very forward thinking though.
I like the idea of a trend starting. DRM-free music and free concert festivals. It’s not the light at the end of the tunnel just yet, but something is stirring.