CD Levies Go Up for the First Time Since 2001

Just when I thought we were making progress in the music industry, with physical CDs coming down in price and more and more studios and digital download sites embracing DRM-free tunes, the Copyright Board of Canada decides to stick another thorn in our sides. The organization has just approved an increase of the levy placed on CDs by $0.08, from $0.21 to $0.29. This is the first levy increase since 2001.

"The mechanical royalties that record labels pay to record a song onto a pre-recorded CD have increased," claims Secretary General of the Board Claude Majeau. "Because consumers now use compression technology when they record music," she adds, "the average number of music tracks copied onto a CD went from 15 to more than 18."

Huh? I find it difficult to justify an almost 40% increase in levies because three more songs could fit on a disc even though they'd be of lesser quality. To me, it seems like a grasping-at-straws attempt to justify an unreasonable price hike. I won't even get into the arguments about people using recordable CDs to store other types of data, like personal JPEG images or documents.

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) says that its royalties will remain "relatively stable at about $30 million/yr", while the rest of the funds will be distributed to authors, performers, and producers of recorded music.

"This is because the sales of both blank audiocassettes and CDs are expected to decline," adds the Collective. (The CPCC has already tried to levy digital media players like the iPod, but that was thrown out this past January when the courts ruled that the Copyright Board had no authority to do so).

Ahh. Now it makes sense. Grasping at straws, indeed, but the motive is now clear: the CPCC wants to ensure that, in addition to composers and producers being compensated accordingly, that its healthy royalties remain in tact. Should this be at the arguably unreasonable expense of the consumer? Absolutely not!

Nevertheless, at a time where pre-recorded CD sales are dropping, it doesn't surprise me that the industry will try to make up for the lost funds through whatever other means it can, including recordable media. But will this drive people further away from "burning" CDs altogether, and deep into the arms of digital files stored on the PC and transferred straight to the MP3 player, or streamed to the home theatre? This seems to be the most affordable method, not to mention the most tech-savvy.

In this sense, while the CPCC and Copyright Board think that the increased levy could offset a drop in sales, more and more consumers might just turn their noses and bark a snooty "so what? We don't want your physical media anyway!"

"Ripping" Vs. "Sharing"

The debate about strict copyright laws, digital downloading, and the illegal "sharing" of music has gone on for some time. You shouldn't be able to make a back-up copy of a CD, say some, because that's copyright infringement. You shouldn't be able to download music from a legal Website and then burn it to more than one disc because, again, that's copyright infringement. Apparently digital downloading has caused this horror in the music industry. Yet today, I witnessed something that had me scratching my head. After lunch with a couple of colleagues, they wanted to pop into HMV to grab some "new" music for their iPods. Sick of the same old, same old, they decided to swap: you buy a few CDs you like, I'll buy some I like, and then we'll trade. Hmm...makes sense, right?

To the pro-copyright camp, they just violated the very sanctity of music. How dare you buy CDs and trade music like that? Essentially, that means you got every CD half-price, right? But from the pro-digital, evolution of music standpoint, what they've done is just opened each other's eyes to new music they may never have bothered to buy, in physical format or otherwise. Now not only is there a greater appreciation for different types of music, but there's also the increased chance that they'll like what they hear, and add a new artist to their radar for future purchases. What a concept!

On that note, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were new CDs available for as little as $12.99, and even $10! The last time I recall, new releases were, at best, $13.99 or $15.99. There were even some pretty good CDs selling "two for $12" or $25. Not bad. Still, I hesitated to buy anything, thinking that I'd just download the specific tunes I want and make a "mixed" CD (only one, of course. God forbid I make one for a friend as well). But at the prices they're at, it's almost worth it to buy the media (especially for the potentially better quality) and save myself the time.

I can't believe I'm saying it, but maybe CDs will return to profitability as people decide that they can't be bothered, or don't have the time, to compile a list of tunes, download them, and burn them to a CD as normal practice. If it isn't a hobby, it can certainly get time-consuming. And iPod owners know how expensive it can also get buying tune after tune, not realizing how much they add up until you get the dreaded credit card bill!

I could be way off base here, but it's food for thought, nonetheless.

On another note, Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers in the U.S. We wish you all the best on this wonderful holiday. Eat, play, and be merry!

SanDisk Loads up microSD Cards with Music

SanDisk has developed a logical means of music distribution: microSD memory cards that come pre-loaded with music. Aptly named slotMusic, the cards will include DRM-free tunes from major record labels like EMI, Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner.

I've always been a fan of the flash memory card format, mainly due to its versatility and convenience. They sort of remind me of mini versions of the 3.5mm floppy discs of yesteryear, in that you can buy them pre-loaded, or load a bunch of data onto them, then access said data by inserting the square-shaped device into your PC. Except with flash memory, you can instantly access the data through a host of other devices as well: an MP3 player, a cell phone, a portable navigation device, a voice recorder, a digital photo frame, an SD card-enabled TV or car stereo system: essentially any digital card reader of any kind. The slotMusic cards will come with a small USB adapter to connect them directly to the PC, but I'm surprised that they won't come with SD card adapters, which allow you to insert them into larger, SD card-enabled devices (e.g. a digital camera).

One of the first questions that came to mind when I heard about this product was whether you'd be able to load your own songs onto the card as well. The answer is yes, you can. Each card is 1 GB in capacity, and tunes already loaded onto them will play back at 320 kbps. A really neat addition, however, is that the cards not only store the audio tracks, but also liner notes, album art, videos, and other creative content selected by the artist.

While the concept makes sense, and I'd totally be on board for it, there are some things to consider. First, if you have a Sony Ericsson mobile phone or other portable Sony device, you're likely out of luck since they use the Memory Stick media format. If you have an iPod, you're also not interested in this format since iPods (sadly) don't have memory card slots.

Another concern is the fact that microSD memory cards are tiny and therefore much easier to lose than a CD. While this wouldn't be a major setback with those old 16 and 32 MB cards that were the norm, today's 8 and 16 GB cards can easily hold someone's entire music collection. Would I entrust a small card like that with all my music, even if it were slotted into a postage stamp-sized SD adapter? I'm not sure. But it is something to consider if you're prone to misplacing things.

One thing's for sure: if SD cards continue to become more and more ubiquitous, you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a ton of them floating around pockets, purses, and wallets. If I were an accessory manufacturer, I'd be jumping on this opportunity to design a whole whack of neat, secure, and fashionable microSD memory card holders that can accomodate multiple cards, and fit into a wallet or purse. These may become the way of the future.

Availability and pricing for SanDisk's slotMusic cards will be announced in time for the holiday season; and they will initially be available through Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores in the U.S., with Europe to follow.