Steve Jobs on Music Choice

Tim Lee

Steve Jobs is just a fountain of anti-DRM quotes. You might recall his 2003 comment that protecting digital content was impossible. Then there’s this comment from 2002:

Apple CEO Steve Jobs offered a critical view of the recording industry in an interview, following Apple’s acceptance of a technical Grammy award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences last week. As reported by Don Clark of The Wall Street Journal, Jobs suggested that recording labels need to make it easier for consumers to use their own music however they want.

“If you legally acquire music, you need to have the right to manage it on all other devices that you own,” said Jobs.

I guess that by “all other devices,” he meant “devices manufactured by Apple.” And “however they want” meant “however the DRM maker wants them to.” Or maybe he changed his tune after he realized that DRM would help to make him the most powerful man in the music industry.

March 24, 2006 | Comments |

Tim

I don't have a problem with his decision to give in to the content industry's demands. Sometimes you have to make compromises in business, and if the content industry wants to shoot itself in the foot, that's their business. But I have a problem with him becoming DRM's biggest booster now that Apple is also its biggest beneficiary. The man knows better.

But my broader point is that the emperor has no clothes. The guy responsible for the world's most popular DRM format knows that DRM is ineffective against piracy and bad for consumers. I may or may not fault the messenger for his hypocrisy, but I certainly want the message heard by as many people as possible.

Steve Jobs on Music Choice

Welcome

Archives

Search

Categories

Contributors

Tech Policy

Tech News

Bloggers We Like

Our Sites

Where We Work

Podcast Feeds

Sponsors