Fellow Multipacker Ross Riley recently posted on his blog about a new alternative to iTunes that has become available in the UK last week called eMusic.

I had seen the eMusic name mentioned a few times, I think in Google Ads, but always thought it was some illegal (or at least dodgy) music service, something I tend to avoid at all costs (quite literally) nowadays.

The big difference that makes eMusic stand out is the removal of Digital Rights Management (DRM) within their tracks. This is a big change in movement compared to some of the other large digital music suppliers such as iTunes who sell their tracks in the M4A format and OD2, who run most European music download websites supplying Windows Media files.

So what is DRM?

DRM has received quite a lot of criticism over recent times, both online and offline, but the British Phonographic Institute (BPI), Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and similar organisations from around the World are advocating the use of DRM within all legal media to stamp out music piracy online. The idea in principle is to include an authorization code with every media file that is specific to each track you download that can’t be copied to other machines or devices, restricting the use of that one track to the device you initially downloaded it to.

The problem with this comes down to freedom of using that track. In the days of CDs, vinyl and tapes, you could take your track wherever you wanted and play it on any device that would accept that format. It seems fair enough doesn’t it? You’ve bought that track and you want to listen to it wherever you may be. With DRM, this freedom is reduced, if not actually completely removed, and you are stuck to listening to your purchased media on whatever you first played it on (normally your computer).

What’s the problem?

Many websites that offer legal downloads normally publicise what the restrictions are, some declaring you are allowed to put it on your generic white MP3 player or burn it on to a CD, but only once. In reality, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Personally, I rarely use the built in CD writing tools of Windows Media Player or iTunes. Call me awkward but I find that these tools tend to work much less often that standalone CD-burning tools such as Nero and Roxio. When you try to burn those legal downloads to a CD within your chosen software though, you normally encounter similar errors to below…

So what now?

To be honest, while DRM is really a kick in the teeth when you want to play your music on other devices (how many people nowadays have PCs, MP3 players and mobile phones!?), I personally don’t seem to encounter the problem much.

Most of the music I purchase nowadays are actually MP3s. Before you tell me that those sites are not kosher, they certainly are. The difference is I only tend to buy dance music, some times for mixing, some times just for listening to. The difference is that the suppliers of dance music recognise the target audience are likely to use the music in mixes and lift that restriction. Some of the websites in question include…

• 3 beat digitial
• Juno
• MP3 to Burn
• DJ Download
• BeatPort
• Traxsource

I could go on but you get the general idea. All these sites are setup legally, hand out relevant commisions to the artists (christ, they need it in this industry!) and, most likely, make a tidy sum themselves as most DJs are used to spending a lot of money on vinyl.

Not just for small fries neither!

Even the actual labels have realised the potential of legal downloads and are setting up their own stores to supply music directly to their customers, although these are normally through some of the more established services and just rebrand it for said label, most notably Positiva (reselling through 7digital) and Ministry of Sound (only this week through DJ Download). Defected have also jumped on the bandwagon during a recent website redesign and implemented their own digital download store.

Say No To iTunes!

While iTunes is the clear monopoly in the digitial music industry, there are other alternatives to the DRM controlled suppliers. You just need to keep your eye (and ear) out.