DRM might be the story in the mainstream press, but what sticks in my craw is the hit to Steve Jobs’ credibility.

What we hate about politicians is fiscal interests, i.e. donors, hold sway over elected officials’ opinions.  There is no Mr. Smith in Washington, speaking from the heart, always doing the right thing.  Today we learn there’s no Mr. Smith in Cupertino either, in case we were wondering.

Steve Jobs has got a problem.  European nations are circling the wagons, they want Apple to license FairPlay DRM.  Like there’s a chance in hell of that happening.

Back when the major labels still believed in CDs, when online sales were tiny, Apple might pull their store from any country causing a ruckus.  But now, the stakes are too high.  We’re fighting for the future here.  Who’s going to distribute music online when the CD is dead.

Well you might say that if DRM is removed, you can buy the tracks ANYWHERE!  But then you’ve got to import them into your iTunes library.  Believe me, I’m on the phone with the computer-illiterate, this is a baffling enterprise to so many.  Especially those too dumb to steal the tracks, those who are utilizing the iTunes Store to begin with.

You see Apple has got a seamless solution, based on not only the iPod, but the iTunes software.  To break that monopoly would be like…breaking the Windows monopoly.  But you can only do this if you’ve got a store, the labels want stores.  And if your store has to close…

No, it has to stay open.  Therefore, Steve Jobs makes a deal for variable pricing with EMI, breaking his FOUR YEAR STANCE!!

That was the beauty of the iTunes Store, one price for everything, no confusion.  Didn’t Mr. Jobs warn the labels not to confuse the customer by having variable prices?  All well and good when European nations aren’t breathing down your neck, but when they are…you do what’s expedient.  If the DRM comes off as part of the bargain, hell, you’ve got that seamless software solution and less than three percent of the songs on iPods are purchased at the iTunes Store, and you’re really selling iPods, right?

But what about that DRM?

I refer you to this article from the BBC

EMI takes locks off music tracks

"Mr. Jobs said the move to remove DRM on music was not a precursor to a similar step in the video market.

‘The music and video markets are not parallel. The video industry does not deliver 90% of its content DRM-free.’"

Huh?  So DRM is fine as long as you presently don’t deliver all your content DRM free?  What if the industry suddenly stopped producing CDs, would DRM then be okay for music?

And isn’t it funny that Mr. Jobs is the largest stockholder in Disney, which does have a successful recording operation, finally, but makes most of its money from films and associated visual programming/licensing.  Mr. Jobs owns Pixar, which he sells to Disney, so suddenly films are different from music?  That’s illogical.  And, isn’t it interesting that so few movie studios have signed up with the iTunes Store…  If Mr. Jobs says DRM sucks for all intellectual property, then his business, which is not only the iTunes Store, but the hardware Apple TV, goes in the shitter.

And why didn’t Mr. Jobs complain about the bit rate before?  Didn’t he extol the sound quality of 128 AACs?  Isn’t this like saying Hyundais are great, all the car you’ll ever need, but then driving a Mercedes and saying that this is what you really want?

Oh, buyers have the option, they can buy shit.

So, what I’m hearing is there should be two levels of quality for films.  The 35mm version and the 16mm version, with different prices for attendance at theatres exhibiting each.  Sure, they’ve come out with hi-def DVDs, but that’s a disaster area, because the original DVD is GOOD ENOUGH!  Is the 128 AAC good enough?  Especially if you’re listening to it on the shitty headphones provided by Apple with the iPod?  I’d say so.

So where do we lie, what’s the bottom line.

Mr. Jobs just added a whole bunch of confusion.  He just contradicted tenets he espoused for years.  And in case you think the legendary reality distortion field is not in play, here’s another quote from that BBC article:

"He denied that the 99p cost for tracks without DRM constituted a price increase.

‘We are adding another product, priced higher, with more features, higher sound quality and hassle free interoperability.

‘It’s not a price increase.’"

So you’re giving me less than I can get with the CD, but somehow I should be thrilled?  Sounds like used car salesman speak, doesn’t it?

Is it that when you wade into Hollywood waters you inherently lose your credibility?  Isn’t this what we hate about today’s musical artists, that they’re now doing what’s expedient as opposed to what they feel in their hearts?  Isn’t this the real problem with music sales, not piracy, but the low overall quality?

Eric Nicoli used to sell biscuits.  He’s just trying to turn water into wine.  He’s a businessman.  We were under the illusion that Steve Jobs was more than that, not a usual suspect.  Today we learned he’s just another self-interested prick doing what’s expedient.

Shit, if he could get the labels to keep prices at a standard ninety nine cents for four years, couldn’t he fight EMI on this price increase?

No, because he was worried about European governments, not DRM.  They were closing in on him, time was of the essence.  That’s the story here.