Why I didn't buy the new Coldplay cd

[juni]

There I was at the store, cd in hand (yes, I do buy a lot of cds) ready to buy it when a small print on the case caught my eye: "This cd has copy protection and won't play on certain cd players".

I don't have a problem with artists getting their money for what they create, and it is completly within their rights to lock up cds however they want. The issue I have with this is that I only play music on my Ipod or hx4700. So if I wanted to transfer the songs to my device(s) it wouldn't be possible without some sort of copy protection breaking trickery - and I don't feel I should have to do that. What if my wife wanted the songs on her Ipod too, would we be breaking the law?

So, I'm sorry Coldplay, it was a sale lost.

[Phillip Dyson]

As I'm a CD buyer myself, it does raise a few questions...
When it say that it would play on certain CD players, does that include my generic computer CDROM?

I have pretty much all of my CDs ripped to MP3 to play on both my PDA and iPod and cutting out programs like iTunes and WMP seems crazy.

I would probably make the same choice as you if confronted with the dilemna. I will keep an eye out for the fine print in the future.

[Janak Parekh]

There I was at the store, cd in hand (yes, I do buy a lot of cds) ready to buy it when a small print on the case caught my eye: "This cd has copy protection and won't play on certain cd players".
:( What's annoying is that it's not consistent across markets. For example, as far as I know X&Y is not copy protected here, but the new Foo Fighters album (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009HLDFU/qid=1118931988/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-8064901-6709653?v=glance&s=music&n=507846) is. Props to Amazon for making it clear in the title. I hope that's now consistent for all CDs, because I'm planning to order X&Y this week.

What I ended up doing is buying the Foo Fighters album through iTunes. I don't usually like doing it, and if I wasn't a fairly big Foo Fighters fan I'd just skip the album, but I reason that, with iTunes, at least I can <cough>unDRM it</cough> without too much trouble. It's guaranteed to work with my iPod, and now that there are one or two AAC players for Windows Mobile it'll play there too once unDRMed. Apple also bundles the album art, too, with a lot of new albums.

So, I'm sorry Coldplay, it was a sale lost.
The problem is that the music industry won't correlate the loss of your sale to the DRM mechanisms. If enough people are upset about it and don't buy it, the music industry will spin it and say "damn file swappers have circumvented the DRM so no one is buying the CD... government, you must tighten the DRM restrictions on people's computers!"

Grumble. How I hate the RIAA and its ilk. :evil:

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

When it say that it would play on certain CD players, does that include my generic computer CDROM?
Probably not. What happens on CDROMs is that the audio tracks won't play, but they'll bundle heavily DRMed WMA files or the like to play on your PC -- but with the inability to move it to iPods and the like.

I have pretty much all of my CDs ripped to MP3 to play on both my PDA and iPod and cutting out programs like iTunes and WMP seems crazy.
I'm hoping the RIAA will eventually ditch this when the industry execs' kids nagging "but Daddy, it won't play on my iPod!" finally gets to them. Let's hope those kids nag and whine a lot, because nothing else seems to convince them...

--janak

[Jon Westfall]

For cases like this, I've been using a product called Replay Music by Applian Technologies. (Link Here) (http://www.replay-music.com/?src=Applian). It basically records whatever you're playing through your computer with high quality, and then looks up CDDB information based on track characteristics to tag the file. The software works great and it allows me to take a copyrighted CD, listen to the DRM tracks on my computer, and then have regular mp3 files ready to drop onto my devices. For $30, it's fairly reasonably priced as well.

Jon.

[juni]

I didn't even think about getting it through the iTunes music store until you mentioned it :). Still, I do like to have a "hardcopy" of my music too + there won't be any booklets to look at.

[Janak Parekh]

I didn't even think about getting it through the iTunes music store until you mentioned it :). Still, I do like to have a "hardcopy" of my music too + there won't be any booklets to look at.
Actually, the booklet for most new releases is attached as PDF and is downloaded into your library as part of the purchase. I don't prefer it to a CD, but the iTMS setup has slowly improved, and is certainly better than a copy-protected CD which is difficult to rip.

--janak

[mv]

For cases like this, I've been using a product called Replay Music by Applian Technologies. (Link Here) (http://www.replay-music.com/?src=Applian). It basically records whatever you're playing through your computer with high quality, and then looks up CDDB information based on track characteristics to tag the file. The software works great and it allows me to take a copyrighted CD, listen to the DRM tracks on my computer, and then have regular mp3 files ready to drop onto my devices. For $30, it's fairly reasonably priced as well.

Jon.

Actually, is a matter of time before a hadnfull of lawyers get that out of the market - for circunventing copy protection.

When i´m at the record store, and i find a copy protected cd, (even if i don´t really want to buy it) i just ask to speak to the sales manager, and i tell him that i really wanted that cd, but copy protection means no bussines to me. Believe, sometimes i make those people look worried.

[Jon Westfall]

For cases like this, I've been using a product called Replay Music by Applian Technologies. (Link Here) (http://www.replay-music.com/?src=Applian). It basically records whatever you're playing through your computer with high quality, and then looks up CDDB information based on track characteristics to tag the file. The software works great and it allows me to take a copyrighted CD, listen to the DRM tracks on my computer, and then have regular mp3 files ready to drop onto my devices. For $30, it's fairly reasonably priced as well.

Jon.

Actually, is a matter of time before a hadnfull of lawyers get that out of the market - for circunventing copy protection.

When i´m at the record store, and i find a copy protected cd, (even if i don´t really want to buy it) i just ask to speak to the sales manager, and i tell him that i really wanted that cd, but copy protection means no bussines to me. Believe, sometimes i make those people look worried.

Then I guess grab it while the grabbing is good. I use it for legitmate purposes, and I don't think that users like me should be penelized for other "possible" uses of the software. Of course, this is the same argument that has caused the RIAA to lose every attempt they've made to get things like KaZaA shut down.

And in the end, it only makes it harder for those of us who buy what we want, and only ask to be able to listen to it how we want it!

[Jimmy Dodd]

The problem is that the music industry won't correlate the loss of your sale to the DRM mechanisms. If enough people are upset about it and don't buy it, the music industry will spin it and say "damn file swappers have circumvented the DRM so no one is buying the CD... government, you must tighten the DRM restrictions on people's computers!"



Alternatively, you could buy it, take it home and try to play it, and return it later saying that it wouldn't play on your CD player. The disk then gets returned to the record label (at their expense, whether it gets returned physically or on paper), the store isn't out anything, and your reason for returning it and your disatisfaction gets noted. If the label gets stuck with enough unsellable product, they will notice.

[Darius Wey]

Alternatively, you could buy it, take it home and try to play it, and return it later saying that it wouldn't play on your CD player. The disk then gets returned to the record label (at their expense, whether it gets returned physically or on paper), the store isn't out anything, and your reason for returning it and your disatisfaction gets noted. If the label gets stuck with enough unsellable product, they will notice.

I think half the problem is that for the majority of users, they aren't aware of a satisfaction policy (if there is one). Most just whack the CD in their CD player, and if it plays, yahoo! They tend not to bother about other things such as whether they can rip it, whether their computer can play it, and so on and so forth.

[Janak Parekh]

I think half the problem is that for the majority of users, they aren't aware of a satisfaction policy (if there is one). Most just whack the CD in their CD player, and if it plays, yahoo! They tend not to bother about other things such as whether they can rip it, whether their computer can play it, and so on and so forth.
Indeed, I think the clueful ones amongst us would get stuck as white noise, especially on such an anticipated album as this one. I bet that, of the average consumers that are annoyed by it, would still hold onto the CD.

--janak