You may have heard that the recording companies have been complaining of late about a decline in music sales. In an attempt to turn the tide, Universal have turned to the USB flash drive. They’re planning to release songs from Keane and Pussycat Dolls on the format at the end of this month. The plan is that the new format will generate interest among the younger demographic.
A couple of things come to mind though, namely:
- What format will the music be in?
- Will DRM prevent Mac OS and Linux users from playing the content? If so, are the recording companies just going to alienate even more of their customers?
- Will the content require a specific media player?
- Will the end user be able to copy the content to more than one device?
- What about people who want to listen to music on their hi-fi and not on their computer? Can the tracks be burned to CD?
While the ideal would be DRM-free MP3 files, I don’t see it happening, so it will be interesting to see how Universal proceed with this.