Cory Doctorow is reknowned across the net (and beyond) as an author of science fiction (you should check out his works, some of them are quite good and all are freely available - some as podcasts on his site). He’s also a well-known critic of DRM so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to read that he’s not too happy about the way in which Bob Dylan’s new album, Modern Times, has been released and packaged on iTunes.

The CD version of “Modern Times” comes as a 14-track disc that includes the audio of the four iTunes videos; also included with the CD is a DVD carrying the four videos. In other words, if you buy the packaged good, you get the audio and the videos for the final four songs, if you buy the iTunes Store version, you only get the un-burnable videos for them.

This is a fair criticism until you actually do a little research, which Cory plainly didn’t. The CD version of Modern Times comes as a 10 track disc. The special edition CD+DVD version is identical, but includes a bonus DVD with the four videos that Cory mentions - these four videos don’t feature in any physical package as audio-only.

… the whole Modern Times package defeats the simplicity of the iTunes pricing model — $0.99/track for any track. While the $14 price-tag gets you 14 “tracks,” it’s not possible to buy singles from the disc, nor is there any discount for buying the whole CD instead of a tack-by-track purchase. And since four of the tracks are not “music” in the sense of being burnable and rippable, you’re really paying more on a per-track basis.

This simply isn’t true and again a small amount of research would have proved this - firstly, it is possible to buy the audio tracks individually at the normal price of $0.99. The bonus videos are only available if you purchase the entire album and that costs $13.99. But since you can just buy all of the songs individually you could forgo the bonus videos and the digital version of the liner notes and get the album for $9.90. Given that music videos normally cost $1.99, you’re actually getting these ones cheaper by purchasing them with the album (and they are, after all, there purely as an incentive).

As for not being able to burn the audio portion of these songs to CD using iTunes - that bit I’m not sure on. I bought Hard-Fi’s Stars of CCTV last year on iTMS with three bonus videos. I created a playlist of the album with the three videos at the end and burned it to CD, hoping that iTunes would be smart enough to create an enhanced CD. Instead I got an 18-track audio CD with three duplicate songs. But that may have been something Apple have ‘fixed’ since then.

Despite having purchased numerous tracks from iTMS, I’m not entirely happy with the DRM aspects of the format either, but if you’re going to criticise, at least get your facts straight.

Update: this seems to be the catalyst for Cory’s post and it appears that iTunes doesn’t allow you to burn these particular videos to CD as audio files. I still have a hard time mustering any indignation about this though; they are, after all, sold as videos and it’s not like you can burn the audio from the DVD versions to CD particularly easily. It doesn’t negate the fact that much of what Cory wrote about in his piece was patently wrong either.

Seems like it’s been ages since I wrote anything about music. I may have mentioned this guy before, but solcofn is a really great DJ/Mash-up type bloke. Check out his website for tons of freely downloadable music - be warned though: there are some fairly hefty downloads because mostof the files are MP3s of entire mix sessions. My favourite is solcofn 09-12-04. Great for listening to whilst driving.

A couple of weeks ago I posted a short piece about how copying CDs that you bought and paid for to your iPod or other digital device (including your computer) constitutes copyright theft. I was so intrigued by this that I felt compelled to contact IRMA and ask them directly if it was true. I got the following response:

Dear Dermot

It is illegal to copy music from its original format without the permission of the record company which owns the copyright in the tracks being copied (this applies even if you have bought the CDs yourself and only want to make back-up copies or a compilation for the car).

In Ireland, there is no such thing as a “Private copy”.

Best regards,

Name Deleted
Irish Recorded Music Association
IRMA House
Dun Laoghaire
Co Dublin
Ireland
T: +353 (0) 1280 6571
F: +353 (0) 1280 6579

So there you go, right from the horse’s mouth, as it were. I wonder if that means that by converting the audio from bits on a CD, via sound waves, to, I dunno, my memories I am violating copyright law? Or is that only true if a clairvoyant then uses their talent to listen to my memories of that piece of music?

In related news, the BBC recently ran a piece in which members of the public asked questions of industry execs. It makes for interesting reading and there is analysis of the story on ArsTechnica and here and probably elsewhere.

According to this article, simply by ripping CDs that you have purchased in good faith and copying the tracks to your iPod or other digital audio device, you are contravening copyright law.

Far be it for me to encourage people to break the law, but if downloading music from a P2P network and transferring music that you have purchased from one format to another are regarded as morally equal by the Irish music industry, then I really don’t see why anyone would be bothered legally purchasing their music (other than from somewhere like iTunes).

Last week I bought two albums on iTunes that are, in their own ways, both challenging and revelations.

Firstly, the White Stripes‘ Get Behind Me Satan. The White Stripes can be something of an enigma: if you had only ever heard their singles, you would be forgiven for assuming that their albums are full of quirky but catchy three-minute slices of guitar-driven indie-pop. And you’d be forgiven for feeling smug and self-satisfied when, on listening to Elephant, you discover that their albums are full of quirky but catchy three-minute slices of guitar-driven indie-pop. But Elephant is something of an aberration in the Stripes’ catalogue and is by far the most accessible of their collections.

Get Behind Me Satan is a more difficult album to get to grips with at first but may actually prove to be more rewarding on repeat listens. The singles are as catchy (and quirky) as anything the White Stripes have ever produced and Blue Orchid has the kind of riff that a lot of ‘heavier’ bands can only dream of. The pair have also expanded their sound: piano plays a much greater role throughout than on Elephant and there is even what sounds like calypso drumming on The Nurse.

The other album that I bought was Hard-Fi’s Stars of CCTV. In a way this was the more pleasant surprise as I only bought it on a whim, having both a vague idea of who they were and an iTunes gift cerificate burning a hole in my virtual pocket. Whereas I kind of knew what to expect with The White Stripes - they’re a know entity to a certain extent - I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with this one. I’d heard Cash Machine on the radio a few times and liked it but hadn’t heard any of their other stuff.

Once I got past the fact that I was unfamiliar with the band or their sound, I found myself really enjoying it and enjoying it more and more on repeat listens. I don’t think there’s a duff song on this album - some of the songs I like more than others - Hard to Beat, Living for the Weekend, Tied Up Too Tight and title-track Stars of CCTV are stand outs - but that’s true of even my favourite albums. But whatever you do, avoid the NME review, which makes the album sound like the kind of turgid ‘real’ working class yob-rock shite that Pete Doherty would produce.