Nettwerk Management’s Terry McBride is no longer a lone wolf howling against what he sees as the uselessness of major labels and the devil called DRM. The UK’s Peter Jenner (former manager of The Clash and Pink Floyd) has joined the chorus from across the pond:
On the death of Digital Right Management:
"…that was done by Sony BMG – what the fuck was that [rootkit DRM] about? The other was iTunes – and they’ve seen how kids don’t like it. The unitary payment…doesn’t suit how they’re actually using downloads – which is to explore and move around…"
On the major labels:
"No one’s got any sympathy or love for them, because they’ve systematically been shoring up their figures in the short run – squeezing money into Universal to make
up for their catastrophies; Warner Brothers have been coping with huge debt; EMI have been desperately trying to hold their stock price up so somebody would buy them; BMG has been wondering how the fuck they’re going to pay somebody back money for whatever it was, so they don’t go public – and Sony are in a terminal mess." (more @ Register UK)
I had the pleasure of having dinner with Jenner a couple of years ago and beneath the colorful language found a thoughtful manager with a world of experience to share. His solution for this mess? Blanket licensing: if you listen to music you pay a few bucks a month to download whatever you want. It’s modeled somewhat after today’s performance royalty scheme where radio pays a flat fee and the money is divided up based on song plays. Music commentator Bob Lefsetz has been banging this drum in the US for months.
It’s so revolutionary that it could work. We’re living the alternative.
