I'm so tired of digital rights management (DRM). It gets in my way, limits where I can play my music, limits my choices and ultimately reduces how much music I'll buy. Bottom line -- if I had an iTunes or URGE-quality online option without DRM, I would buy more music than I do today and way more than I ever would on CD. I don't think I'm alone. The music studios shouldn't underestimate the impact of an easy impulse buy. Apple CEO Steve Jobs hasn't. I'm well aware that in a world without DRM people will steal music, however, those same people will steal music in a world with DRM. DRM on purchased digital downloads isn't slowing piracy down. What it's doing is confusing, limiting and frustrating customers and would-be customers. The goal of this post is not to espouse a DRM-free doctrine, but instead to show ways to break free from DRM music.

Read more for details.

Downloadable music with DRM comes in a variety of flavors, including Apple iTunes 'Fairplay', Microsoft's 'PlaysForSure' and two new options: Microsoft Zune and Rhapsody DNA. Fairplay is the most friendly, only because Apple controls every device it's designed to play on. So, yes, it plays anywhere it's supposed to... but it's limited. Microsoft's PlaysForSure works inconsistently from player to player. Clearly, Microsoft launched Zune to control the whole food chain and to improve their user experience to match that of iTunes. Rhapsody DNA currently works only with the current #2 digital music player, SanDisk Sansa. With few exceptions, all of these DRM schemes get in the way when it comes to moving your music around and playing on different equipment – especially with digital music systems like Sonos, Squeezebox or Roku. Unless you are willing to focus 100% of your music to just the players guaranteed to work with a specific service, I find it hard to recommend DRM-laden music. Even then, I find it hard.

The same logic does not apply to all-you-can-eat music rental services like Rhapsody, URGE and Yahoo! Music. With these services, you pay a monthly fee to stream or download as many songs as you want. When you stop paying, however, you can no longer listen to any of it. Some of those services will allow you to download to specific mobile devices, others won't. Regardless, you don't own anything. Your subscription lets you rent music for that month.

There are limitations and hurdles to jump to get DRM music where you want it and even then it's not guaranteed. Without going into the details of each, I can tell you it's confusing.

Personally, I'm on a DRM music boycott. While an impulse-buy at iTunes or URGE is momentarily gratifying; you run into a roadblock when you want to play it on another device later. We're not going to get into the legal, ethical and technical issues of acquiring music without paying for it. Those of you who choose to do so already know how. Here are what I consider the best current options for DRM-free music:

1. Rip CDs – it remains the best method to gain flexibility and a guarantee that your music will play on nearly any device. Ripping converts the CD into files formated to be understood by digital music players. The most common format is MP3 – every player will play MP3. In a future TechDigs.net article, we will cover ripping your own CDs using Windows and Mac computers, as well as the use of CD ripping services that have a fee basis.
   
   
2. Buy music from a DRM-free service like eMusic. eMusic sells MP3 files – plain and simple. Because the large record labels believe that making music difficult to buy and use will reduce piracy, most are not on eMusic. However, eMusic has a wide variety of first-rate artists including: The White Stripes, Tom Waits, Barenaked Ladies, Ray Charles, The Pixies and many more. Unfortunately, eMusic is a monthly subscription with a predefined number of music purchases (starting at $9.99 for 40 songs), so you can't just buy an album from time to time. However, with this subscription the music is yours forever. With MP3 files at around 180kbps, the quality is pretty good. Not as good as a lossless RIP from a CD, but better than iTunes Store quality. eMusic will give you 25 songs for free with no strings. To broaden your music horizons and get out of the corporate music rut, eMusic is worth considering.

Before yielding to the immediate gratification of an iTunes purchase, ask yourself the question: can eMusic give me want I want, or am I actually better off buying the CD and ripping it?

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