Industry at odds over digital music

To police, or not to police? London's digital music conference this week came no nearer to solving the problem of internet regulation, which has divided the online entertainment community for some time now.

Delegates at the Digital Distribution and the Music Industry (ddmi) Europe 2001 Conference were divided over their analysis of the way the market is heading.

The conference took place this week

While some speakers predicted the death of the traditional music industry, others welcomed the beginning of the licensing era.

The debate mirrors ongoing arguments over the merits of greater accessibility versus stricter regulation, brought to a head in February when US courts ordered Napster, the online music exchange company, to remove copyright material from its system.

Locks and keys

Speaker Jim Griffin called for a rethink of what he described as the "locks and keys mentality" that has led to a standoff between the net community and the traditional music industry.

It is pretty hard to run a compelling service on a pirate basis

Fergal Gara, EMI

Encryption and watermarking and the creation of secure files were set against arguments over access and availability.

Lawyers and industry representatives meanwhile debated potential business models for internet music and how artists will be paid.

Flat rate subscription fees, along the lines of those used by cable TV or mobile phone companies, were regarded by many delegates as the most likely way forward.

Carrots and sticks

Leading music industry representative Fergal Gara of EMI Records New Media urged a "carrot and stick" approach.

The digital market is hotting up

"What we have to ensure is that the carrot is better than the stick", he told BBC Monitoring's Lewis Macleod.

"The stick is enforcement - the locks and keys", Gara said.

"If we have services that are good enough, then that is where people will naturally go".

He said it would become increasingly difficult to meet growing consumer requirements through pirate companies.

"It is pretty hard to run a compelling service on a pirate basis," he said.

"Cable and mobile markets have a long established history of subscription paying, so people expect to pay more and get more."

"It isn't just about being protective and policing really," he said.

"If you can offer a dynamite service that can't be done in too many other ways, then the market will come."

Anarchistic origins

Other analysts meanwhile recalled the "anarchistic origins" of the web and deplored any trend towards policing it.

Their arguments focused on web philosophy and the difficulties of licensing in a global multimedia age.

Whatever the digital future may hold in store, it seems it will remain a contentious and much debated topic for some time to come.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.