Selling Digital Audio: DRM or not to DRM
In case you did not know, walki-talki.com has opted not to use any digital rights management (DRM) scheme in our walking tours. You may surmise that this is purely a consequence of either our lack of resources or of our laziness. Well, you would be wrong on both counts. walki-talki.com is but one of many internet sellers of digital media (music, photos, etc.) who are the avant-garde of digital distribution. We know that we can trust our clients, and we will prove that respect and trust are reliable commodities in the business of digital distribution.
Before you poo-poo this notion, bear in mind that just last week, Apple, Inc., (Yes, their official new name) started selling DRM-free music. Of course, Apple is very clever about it. They are using it as a marketing ploy to charge an extra 30 cents per song–the “theft premium”, if you will. That’s probably what they mean by iTunes Plus. (In the interest of full disclosure: I am an Apple stockholder.) So, this is a very real trend, and we are pleased to be at its frontier.
And, unlike Apple, we do not embed any personal information into the audio files that we deliver to you.
So, if you want DRM-free media to become the norm, put your money where your mouth is. Buy your walking tours from walki-talki.com, and buy your music from DRM-free outlets like www.audiolunchbox.com, ww.pastemusic.com, www.bleep.com, and www.betterpropaganda.com among many, many other outlets of DRM-free music. Of course, it’s now fair to count the iTunes Music Store as one of these outlets.
You will be shocked to learn how little it costs to start a revolution. To be precise, it costs roughly $0.99 a track. Substantially less at walki-talki.com.
Payam
