Sarah, along with 4,294 others, is talking about Sony’s draconian DRM strategy. Sarah suggests a boycott of all things Sony.
This response is exactly what I was hoping for. Sony is too invasive, and we as consumers should start voting with our wallets.
Of course, I find myself personally in a troubling position. If I agree to boycott Sony/BMG, I can’t buy the new album by my favorite geeky pianist.
So I’m wondering this. If I decide I like Ben Folds enough to support him, but I’d like to boycott Sony, what alternatives do I have. There’s an iTunes interface for Linux, but I wonder if that actually helps me significantly. Sony still gets revenue from the purchase, Ben Folds gets his nickel-and-dime percentage, and I’m stuck with more DRM than if I bought the CD (I use Linux, hence this new rootkit DRM is blind and helpless on my computer.) However, my insignificant purchase is counted as a vote of no confidence in this new music revenue model.
Ben, do me a favor and release some of your songs on Magnatune, okay?
Agreed: write to your fave artists and urge them to ditch Sony, who have reached the malicious/stupid state that in a human we would call Criminally Insane, to ditch the company and publish their creative works in a more sane, ethical world that the one Sony inhabits.
Got a contact for your fave geeky pianist? I’d like to hear him, but not on any Sony disk.