Anti-Piracy Voice-Overs to Prevent CDs from Leaking
Written by Ernesto on January 12, 2008Recently, more and more CDs are being protected by voice-overs to prevent these albums from leaking to the public before the official release date. The voice-overs are pretty effective, but there is a downside, they start to annoy reviewers and even start to affect album ratings.
“WARNING: All songs on this promo CD are voice-over protected to avoid any piracy and illegal file uploading on the internet before the release date”
This is the message printed on the cover of protected CDs. Most filesharers are probably familiar with the “for your consideration” messages displayed in DVDscreeners, but similar messages on CDs are less known. The voice overs do their job, because of their inferior quality none of these albums are uploaded to the Internet. However, they also make it harder for the reviewers to do their job if the music fades out every other minute, and it’s starting to annoy them.
For example, take the review of Steve Lukather’s latest album on Komodo Rock, which was published earlier this week. Lukather is the guitarist from the well known band Toto, and his new album is set for release on February 22nd. The reviewer rated the album 2.2 out of 10, but not because it was a bad album. On the contrary: “What I’ve heard of this album is actually pretty damn good, very emotional, very mood driven, and had the potential to be a truly great album”, he writes.
So why the negative rating? The reviewer on Komodo Rock explains: “Well there’s no chocolate here, but what we have instead is a disembodied voice telling me what I already know, and destroying all the hard work Steve Lukather has put into this album. I’m all for protecting the rights of artists and labels, but this is not the way to do it, this is not a solution, this is a request to reviewers to ignore what their ears tell them and imagine what this album sounds like.”
We asked the reviewer about the prevalence of the voice-overs, and he told TorrentFreak: “The first track on the album is clear of all voice overs, so the first time this appears is at the 1:16 of track 2. It then repeats again at the 3 minute mark, and then one last time at 4:48. This track is 5:53 in length. This then continues throughout the album in this way, apart from track 8 which again is clear of all voice overs.”
The movie and the music industry are treating their own people as thieves now. Last week we reported about a 17 year Oscar screening veteran, who resigned because he had enough of being treated like a criminal. Similarly, the annoying voice-over anti-piracy messages are becoming a thorn in the side of music reviewers. Perhaps the entertainment industry should focus more on adapting to new technologies, and offering consumers some alternatives, instead of protecting their outdated business models.
Previously: UK BitTorrent Users Under More Pressure From Lawyers
Next: Computer Chronicles, Retro Tech-TV Available on BitTorrent
125 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 5 » Show All
[quote comment="260992"]“…because of its inferior quality none of these albums is uploaded to the Internet.”
Is and its are singular. The sentence should use plural words. the correct sentence should read “…because of their inferior quality none of these albums are uploaded to the Internet.”
Not a Grammar Nazi, but small mistakes like these are everywhere, and drive me nuts.[/quote]
Sorry Berga but “none” always takes the singular as it’s a contraction of “not one.” Therefore one would say “None of these records is worth a damn.” The verb in this sentence is related to subject (None) not the object of the preposition (records). If you’re going to slam other people’s grammar, at least be correct.
Just to clarify, file sharing is NOT stealing, it is copyright infringement — a completely different crime. Theft deprives the owner of a piece of property. Infringement is the act of making an unauthorized duplicate of a copyrighted work, which leaves the original property untouched. The music industry would love to muddle the law to make the two acts the same, but under the law they are not. Both are illegal, but they are NOT the same.
‘The voice overs do their job, because of their inferior quality none of these albums are uploaded to the Internet.’
This is untrue. Recently Atrocity-Werk_80_II-Promo-2008-QTXMp3 had in the nfo: ‘With voiceovers, so feel free to rls the retailversion
if you have it.’ It’s not ‘never’, but ‘rarely’. Really, saying they are ‘never’ uploaded is quite silly, as _anything_ gets uploaded.
Also, I’d like to say that there are zines out there that do not allow voice-over promo’s to be reviewed. I hope every webzine, magazine, reviewblog, etc incorporates that rule too.
@45
Best point of the whole matter.
Whoever the that very content, anonymous fellow is who keeps claiming we’ll be sharing our money with him has no idea that we’ll all either start downloading much, much more just “to get our share’s worth” or because there will be a basic assumption that, since we paid the tax, we are entitled to all the free media goodies we like - video games, music, movies, software. Kids will tell their less tech savvy parents that it’s perfectly fine now, and the parents will believe them a lot of the time because of the new tax. All of those who were a’feared of your strong arm tactics will step out of the shadows and clog all the pipes with p2p.
Even if we did end up having to pay a small tax for service, I wouldn’t be so sure that you’ll get any of that money when the recording industry either a) feels a backlash for such a stupid, stubborn move and/or b) fires you because, well, frankly they won’t need you anymore with that lush new source of revenue.
The recording industry has proven time and time again that it is a blackhole for good ideas. If nothing you’ve done for the past 5 or 7 years has worked to stop or even SLOW these processes you disdain, what makes you so confident that a proposal, not even law, will be the end-all reversal to your misfortunes? I believe you’re counting the chickens before they hatch…and assuming (hoping? praying?) that they’ll be the mutant chickens with the superpowers necessary to quell the world wide beast.
Or maybe I’m wrong. Either way I’m not boasting about nothing like you
And another thing…if you really expect to see a dime of that tax, you’re probably a higher-level employee. And if you’re such, your anonymous trolling on torrentfreak only serves to highlight why many of us think none of you are doing a JOB worthy of any of the money we give you.
wouldn’t a ISP tax be the same thing as taxing a theft?
and if your paying for it through taxes then you aren’t really stealing. as you are paying for it through taxes, so its yours.
so technically if only one ISP gets this tax, the RIAA would have no viable way to determine if someone downloaded a song legally through P2P or illegally. (with encryption of course)
so wouldent this all make it HARDER for RIAA to sue customers or random people? since any lawyer with a brain could say that the songs were purchased through the accommodation made by the tax on the ISP.
that is, all pending that the taxation gives the right of download. if it does not, then you are technically paying for other people to download songs illegally and getting nothing yourself, which is more like you being taxed for literally nothing. which i’m almost positive that that alone would be a great class action suit.
let the RIAA tax our ISP’s, it wont last long and give pirates a much stronger defense against the lawsuits.
The tax thing can’t happen, how could this be calculated? How can you know what song was download, who to pay, and if it was one of the old copyrighted ones?
I’d have a guess that artist would also be against the tax, since most of it would be scraped off and taken by the greedy fat old middle men.
People will not stand for this tax, dumb idea and it just shows desperation on the RIAA’s side.
Simple answer, dissolve those old outdated organizations. Liberated the people and the artists.
Modern youth, Gen Y’s and Gen X’s are reinventing capitalism.
The movement will only grow once the old mothballed people die and retire from high positions.
as long as you people desire what the big media companies produces, they own you.
too bad people dont see that…
It’s worth noting that no major label nor the RIAA has proposed a flatrate system. Who has? One or more trolls on TorrentFreak, basically.
It’s not even close to inevitable — both sides of the copyfight have ample reason to hate the idea.
[quote comment="261331"]as long as you people desire what the big media companies produces, they own you.
too bad people dont see that…[/quote]
MiniMac just posted the most astute comment I’ve seen on this site in months.
Artistic preferences aside, it is true that ultimately the artists (and whoever they choose to align themselves with) hold the power. They can choose to not act when it comes to piracy, or put the hammer down. Whatever choice they make is going to be the one everyone has to live with if they want to listen to music.
[quote comment="261270"]wow, are there really that many people from non-US countries here? No wonder you’re so angry. You live every day knowing that nobody cares what you think. You might as well be invisible, and that’s gotta suck.[/quote]
LoL the way the US is going these days it will drop from power very soon ;)
[quote comment="260973"]“Untalented artists”, huh?
You sure steal a lot from “untalented artists”.[/quote]
you know how? fiery tonight arent we? little trolling on torrentfreak?
[quote comment="261010"]The bible is the most pervasive thing, it is written by corrupt men who sought to corrupt the mindsofmany and they have done a splendid job
I’m the savior you guysorgals have been looking for since ancient time
I’m a virgin, i am aloner, i am in touch with nature, and have done much to help everyone since my birth.
I know all, see all, hear all, and a perfectionist. I am never satisfied until perfect.
believing is seeing
I am here to offer my help to humanity who are on the path to destruction
I am the the solution to world peace
I will bring world peace through love, co-operation, and understanding of the world we live in.[/quote]
Perfection is an illusion. God is imperfect. You know why? Because we were created in his image.
I would think that the artists would be more offended by this then the reviewers. Think about it. What if some went through and painted a line through all of Da Vinci’s works?
David
Why not use DRM? Since the reviewer does not buy the material, but rather gets it for free for a review, I don’t see a problem with using DRM.
[quote comment="260992"]“…because of its inferior quality none of these albums is uploaded to the Internet.”
Is and its are singular. The sentence should use plural words. the correct sentence should read “…because of their inferior quality none of these albums are uploaded to the Internet.”
Not a Grammar Nazi, but small mistakes like these are everywhere, and drive me nuts.[/quote]
“None” is also singular. Therefore the sentence is correct as-is. “[A]lbums” is just an object of the preposition and therefore irrelevant with regards to antecedents and verbs.
ISP fee will never work, my employer, and most any business will not want to pay any fee to subsidize the music industry. The music companies will continue to fight a losing war with stupid self defeating tactics, such and this voice over thing, DRM, and suing their customers. I fight by not buying their products. I don’t download their stuff either. There are many sources for legitimate free music. Give them a chance, these folks understand their customers. Frankly I’m sick of government subsidies, corn, dairy, music.
[quote comment="261320"]
that is, all pending that the taxation gives the right of download. if it does not, then you are technically paying for other people to download songs illegally and getting nothing yourself, which is more like you being taxed for literally nothing. which i’m almost positive that that alone would be a great class action suit.[/quote]
Government schools work like that. My parents haven’t sent any of their children to the State for daycare but still pay property taxes. They steal from us and we get no benefit.
Hi, are you guys fine with all movies being made at the quality of cable TV or less? Actually, how about quality that will be more than likely far worse than cable TV. Cable movies are supported by advertising. However, online advertising is too small and spread too thinly to support anything other than student films, let alone $100 million Spielberg movies.
http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.com/2007/narrative_online_economics.asp?cat=3&media=4
With only $410 million (of the current $16 billion total for online ad revenue) going to online video sources, cable television by contrast generated over $130 billion in ad revenue in 2003! Yes, with figures like this we’re looking at 15-20 years of adjustment (at the minimum) for business conditions to be favorable for quality investments into entertainment.
So in other words, all of you “adapt or die” proponents are ignorant of the fact that you’re asking the entertainment industry to dive from 800 ft. into a thimble. And who will suffer first as a result of your pirate-populist views? The Talent. Talented people are generally smart people and they will look to other industries to make a living as $15K/year USD probably won’t cut it for them. This exodus of talent will result in a dramatic downshift in the quality and amount of movies, music and video games. And as a result, you pirates will have to resort to late night reading of economics books to entertain yourselves. No more TV, Games or Movies for you!
Yes, all of you are voting for the death of the Entertainment Industry. Intellectual property is dead and you killed it. Are you happy now? That’s ok, if you don’t like economics books you can watch Uwe Boll reruns 20 years from now. Without anything new being created, you’ll be that desperate as you’ll have watched most everything to death. The bottom of the barrel cometh. Amen.
Don’t be a member of the ignorant hordes. Take responsibility for your actions when it comes to illegal downloading and simply DON’T DOWNLOAD ILLEGAL CONTENT.
People have found ways to entertain and be entertained well before any of the media overlords came to be. I think that maybe the media industry, remember the companies that bring you “artists” like Britney Spears, may need to collapse before a new lean and hungry customer centric industry takes its place.
[quote comment="261463"]Hi, are you guys fine with all movies being made at the quality of cable TV or less? Actually, how about quality that will be more than likely far worse than cable TV. Cable movies are supported by advertising. However, online advertising is too small and spread too thinly to support anything other than student films, let alone $100 million Spielberg movies.
http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.com/2007/narrative_online_economics.asp?cat=3&media=4
With only $410 million (of the current $16 billion total for online ad revenue) going to online video sources, cable television by contrast generated over $130 billion in ad revenue in 2003! Yes, with figures like this we’re looking at 15-20 years of adjustment (at the minimum) for business conditions to be favorable for quality investments into entertainment.
So in other words, all of you “adapt or die” proponents are ignorant of the fact that you’re asking the entertainment industry to dive from 800 ft. into a thimble. And who will suffer first as a result of your pirate-populist views? The Talent. Talented people are generally smart people and they will look to other industries to make a living as $15K/year USD probably won’t cut it for them. This exodus of talent will result in a dramatic downshift in the quality and amount of movies, music and video games. And as a result, you pirates will have to resort to late night reading of economics books to entertain yourselves. No more TV, Games or Movies for you!
[/quote]
Ahem, I’ve worked in the music industry, I’ve worked in TV. I have even got plenty of friends and contacts that work at various levels on movies. The one thing that is pervasive, is that the majority of ‘the talent’ in these industries get paid peanuts anyway. People like the writers who are the actual creators and talent on TV shows on strike because oh, what a surprise, the industry doesn’t want to pay the artist for their work.
$100M movies are in no danger either, there are more of them being produced than ever. I also leave you with this little fact… In the last 10 years, the top 10 films alone, have brought in roughly $2.5B in US box office sales, per year (adjusted for inflation to 2007 dollars). Thats not counting DVDs, or overseas ticket sales; Just US box office sales.
Rhetoric and invective are great, but facts beat them every time.
*Slaps 69 with a Halibut*
Humans have been around over 10,000 years. Think about that. 10,000 years. All that time without modern media. In fact the modern media you uphold has probably only been around since the renaissance. Of course the average person hasn’t been able to pay for it until the last 200 or so. And the idea for big budget films came from someone who had an unstable mind(Howard Hughes). So death of the entertainment industry? Hardly.
All that can be said about this protection process is that it is another, in vain, attempt to protect the body of the recording labels from a business-model virus that has mutated to stages of complete resistance. The RIAA, SoundExchange, and all the other associate organizations of the ‘major labels’, who use settlement funds, and artist writing and performances royalties, to pay their wasteful, obstructionist, expenses, are just losing valuable time. The 40 year-old working Mom will buy a song she likes. Period. The computer-savvy 19 year old, in his first year of Computer Science college, will only pay if he/she feels the spirit. The labels ‘Must’ create the spirit, and it will never be created through the action of lawsuits.
Melted Metal Web Radio
http://www.meltedmetal.com/
Awesome. The more this happens, the more the music industry DIES and the sooner it can be reborn.
why send CDs to reviewers when can use stream .
what I mean is they can make a program to play and create they own format music file and ask the reviewers play it online . this way neither can save or copy .
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 5 » Show All
Add your response