The hostility between the music industry and file sharing networks now seems to be softening. The LA Times is reporting (registration required) that Sony BMG is in negotiations with Grokster to allow free music sampling and offer paid downloads. An AP report on the story can be found here.
Although many of the details are still in flux, people familiar with Mashboxx said that it would probably work like this: When users search for a Sony BMG track, the system will allow them to download only authorized versions of the song. In some cases, these could be free promotional tracks that come with an offer to buy higher-quality renditions of the music. Mashboxx hasn't set any prices. Many online music stores sell songs for 99 cents each.
The idea behind the venture is to let people continue to use file sharing to discover music at no charge, while encouraging them to pay for the songs they want to keep.
The venture is expected to use a version of DRM that has been developed by Snocap Inc., a company founded by Shawn Fanning, creator of the original Napster. Many recording studios are wary of allying with P2P networks where paid downloads could be offered alongside unauthorized copies of the same files. There is also the issue of a network's popularity falling off when once free files are locked up in DRM wrappings. While there still may be many issues that need to be worked out, it is refreshing the industry is looking towards P2P as an alternative sales outlet.
"There's a lot of serious effort on the label side of the table to try to make this work, more than you would have ever expected to see," said one record company executive who asked not to be named. "There's some heavy lifting, but everybody's really talking through the possibilities."
These are strange words to hear from recording industry executives. Even the former head honcho for the RIAA seems to have been enlightened by the clue-by-four. Will the rest of the recording industry start to emerge from their bunkers soon?
