Meet The New Boss- Same As The Old Boss
Well, the music labels got their way, more or less. Most everybody's getting their music from iTunes, and the labels' Digital Rights Management is mostly secure, as they can only be played on an iPod device. It seems to be dawning on them that they're working for Steve Jobs now, not the other way around. And the good old MP3 format is starting to look good to them again.
Everyone knows the MP3 format is used by more devices and people than any other file-based digital-audio format. Most also know that record labels prefer DRMed alternatives such as the ones sold by Apple's iTunes, because they make it harder for people to share music.
But wait -- was that a pig flying past my window just now? Evidence is mounting that major labels may start to prefer the MP3 format, as impossible as that used to seem.
If it was easy, cheap, and legal to get your music in a format that anything could play, no one would bother stealing it. The days of rights-hoarding music labels paying "Apple i-Mobster" protection money might be coming to a close. Viva MP3!
