Changing Way

The world’s most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service, according to Business Week. Said exec is Doug Morris of Universal. Doug thinks that the music labels have given Apple too sweet a deal. “We got rolled like a bunch of puppies” is his description of the negotiations.

The new service will be called Total Music, and will be funded by a tax on TM-compatible music players. Gizmodo identifies one downside: “this is clearly not a move away from DRM, but towards more of it. You can bet those downloads are going to be wrapped thicker than a 5-year-old’s Christmas present.”

TechCrunch identifies another problem: it’ll make the music players too expensive. “Total Music may market itself as offering free unlimited music, but it’s not really free, the cost is just hidden. That cost: $90 per device.”

Total Music already looks to me… how to put this… as dead as DRM? In as much trouble as a major music label?

Talking of major labels, it seems that one of the big four will release In Rainbows early next year. Gizmodo described this as a cop-out. Indeed, if you follow the link, you’ll see far harsher terms. You’ll also see a more recent acknowledgment that the CD release was intended all along, and shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’m neither surprised at the news nor annoyed that I paid for the download.

I’m tempted to describe Radiohead’s impending bargain with a major as Faustian, but I think they’ll get a far better deal than that would imply. But here’s “Faust Arp,” one of my favorite tracks from In Rainbows.