The Infinite Dial

Today's Radio Business Report has a story on a rumored deal for streaming royalties that hinged on webcasters accepting the inclusion of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology on any webcast streams. Whether this rumor is true or not, the inclusion of a DRM wrapper on your stream is more than a "trade-off" or compromise--it is the poison pill that might just sink your streaming efforts for good.

DRM is bad. When I buy a video on iTunes Music Store, and want to watch it on the larger, brighter screen of my Zune, I can't--because of DRM. The same is true if I download a song from my (legally paid-for) Yahoo Unlimited music subscription and want to listen to it on my iPhone. I can't--because of DRM.

But DRM is more than just an inconvenience--it represents a return to the client/server decisions of the late 90s that hamstrung so many webcasters. When I was a partner in Chrysalis Media's streaming radio venture in the UK back in 1999, there were still all kinds of client issues with webcasting--do we broadcast in Realaudio, Windows Media or Quicktime? Do we need three servers to stream all three formats? What do listeners need to download/install, and how do we help them through that process? What about Mac listeners?

These became financial decisions, not decisions based upon the needs and wants of our listeners. Thankfully, those days seem to be behind us. Webcast audio works best when it is format-agnostic, a generic MP3 audio stream that can be read by any player, presenting as few barriers between your listeners and their content as possible. DRM-wrapped audio, on the other hand, will require your listeners to use one client for your audio stream, but maybe another for other stations they listen to. That is a real step back, in my opinion, and your listeners shouldn't have to go through Real to get your station--they should be able to listen to it on iTunes, over their browser, through a flash-based player--whatever.

Consumers are becoming more and more aware of DRM--hence the recent deals announced by Real/Rhapsody, Wal-Mart, and (to a very limited extent) Apple to sell DRM-free music. Mainstream consumers are just now bumping into the hard edges of DRM, and are beginning to understand that what they buy, they don't seem to own--and many don't cotton to that. I know I don't.

Accepting the poison pill of DRM is essentially treating their lack of a 21st century business model as your emergency. Your best hope is to spread your content as far and as wide as you can, without barriers and without making your listeners jump through hoops. Don't take the pill.