In the United Kingdom, retailers have "urged the music industry to drop piracy protection for online downloads after new figures showed the average Briton has bought fewer than three digital tracks in the past three years" according to the Financial Times. The Entertainment Retailers Association also states that anti-piracy methods have inhibited growth in the digital market and are "working against the consumer interest." The three tracks in three years figure is slightly hard to believe, but another point in the article made me think about the upcoming holiday season and digital music players.

The Financial Times remarked that the ERA is urging the music industry before the Christmas season because hopes are that digital sales could grow tremendously in January for consumers that want to load up their new players. While the average user might not be able to tell the technological benefits of Digital Rights Management (anti-piracy) free tracks, they can certainly enjoy the ability to easily transfer said track without having to worry about the tedious protection measures. Unfortunately, anti-piracy protection seems to inevitably require the consumer to sign in and confirm purchases, no matter the length of time since it has occurred.

DRM-free technology (anti-piracy) software has come under fire since February when Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Steve Jobs challenged the music industry to drop usage of the technology. So far the challenge has only been partially successful with London-based EMI the only music company to fully drop DRM and offer higher quality tracks for sale in various digital stores, including iTunes. The other music companies have not been as quick to adopt a DRM-free position, with Universal Music Group the only other label even beta testing files without it.

While only two major companies are even considering files without the technology, it does not mean that musicians are not taking matters into their own hands. In the last two months, major acts have moved toward careers without DRM, and even without record labels. Radiohead being the obvious example in that case, but they are not the only band to take measures into its own hands. Classic American rock band the Eagles released their most recent album in Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) alone and online from their own website without DRM technology.

Although an iPod loaded up with DRM-free MP3 files sounds extremely nice to this consumer, it is important to note that those files are typically larger than the 128 kbps encoded AAC files iTunes encodes with DRM technology. That means that fewer tracks will fit on your iPod. That may not mean too much, but if you are using a new iPod Touch there is only 8 or 16 GB to play with, and after some time you will run out of space and be forced to choose what you want to load into your player. Ideally, a new iPod Touch would not be limited in such a fashion, but it is not that way. The larger classic models will not encounter that kind of problem of course, but these statements are not intended to sell either (or not).

In the end, it is unfortunate that the music industry is so committed to simply dropping the use of anti-piracy software, especially as discussion about it grows and consumers become aware of the differences. Those differences and the limitations invoked by DRM technology may not mean as much to the average user, but at the same time we should be conscious of why the music industry does not seem to want to change as quickly as consumers may like. It is just a matter of changing from a business model that had worked for so long to one that seems, at times, to be fluctuating and unstable. A little instability could not hurt any more than the problems that are facing the industry now.

If you get an iPod, enjoy it and the tracks you choose to load onto it!