Fresh from the news that Vodafone has claimed 18% of Irish singles sales and mobile rival 3 an impressive 14%, there have been further dramatic developments in the digital music market.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has launched an unprecedented attack on record companies, insisting that the fact that iTunes music can only be played on an iPod is the fault of the majors, and not of Apple. However, Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) director general Dick Doyle, in a hard hitting response, has dismissed this as a “two-faced approach” and called for Apple to either open up their “FairPlay” system so that iTunes purchases may be played on third party mp3 players or get out of Europe.

The row has broken out against a backdrop of surging online music sales. Digital sales now account for 10% of all music sold, and sales are predicted to rise to 25% by 2010, especially with The Beatles’ back catalogue now available on iTunes
UNAUTHORIZED DEVICES
In an open letter, made public last week, Steve Jobs set the scene: “When Apple [first] approached these companies [the major record labels] to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. A key provision of our agreements is that if our DRM (Digital Rights Management) system is compromised and their music becomes playable on unauthorized devices, we have only a small number of weeks to fix the problem or they can withdraw their entire music catalog from our iTunes store.
“Because of these terms,” he added, “sharing Apple’s copy protection system [FairPlay] with other companies compromises our agreements with these labels”.
The core issue relates to encryption, with record companies insisting that music cannot be sold without being rendered secure from illegal, ‘free’ re-distribution by one-off buyers.
It is this provision that requires the application of DRM.
In his statement, Jobs insisted that if record companies eased the DRM restrictions, “Apple would embrace [that] in a heartbeat”. He also pointed out that out that 20 billion songs are sold on CDs, which have little or no copy protection system.
ANTI-COMPETITIVE BEHAVIOUR
Apple’s claims that their hands are tied on the issue will come as a blow to those who have been pushing for change. 3’s head Of music, Graeme Slattery, speaking at Music Ireland 06, predicted that “Apple will have to open up their DRM – as they will start to lose sales if they don’t do so”. Now, however, that prospect – in the short term at least – seems uncertain.
While Jobs insists that it’s not Apple’s decision to make, IRMA’s Dick Doyle disagrees. In a strongly worded comment, he said that Apple should “wake up, smell the coffee”.
“They should get out of Europe or open up FairPlay,” he told hotpress. “It is as simple as that. The fact is that Apple is under attack from five different countries in Europe. Steve Jobs knows he’s in trouble for anti-competitive behaviour. He can hold on, and he can try to change the rules, but he’s in trouble. That’s what this is all about.”
Doyle is clear that there should be no agreement from record companies to sell music unencrypted – to go down that road would, in the eyes of the copyright owners, lead to a kind of copyright anarchy in which no one would be able to rely on receiving payment for the use of their material. Neither, however, does he accept that the contract Apple signed with record labels prohibits the company from opening up its DRM.
“Forget about the record industry,” he says. “DRM has been used successfully around the world. Banking is one of the most secure industries, yet DRM is used when you go to an AIB cashpoint to take money from your Bank Of Ireland account. It’s also been used successfully in DVDs and lots of other industries. Why not with MP3 players?”