Sony/BMG started ahead of EMI Group and today almost 50 pct of all records sold in the US have a three-copy limitation. Sony/BMG plans are to extend this limit to 100 pct of all releases by the end of 2005.
As of today, however, neither Universal nor Warner have followed the same path. One of the reasons could be taht songs cannot be transferred directly to iPods and other MP3s.
Give and Take?
Using this technolgy-driven limitation has a consequence: mainstream consumers will find CDs less attractive than ever. So what's next? That EMI and/or Sony/BMG announce availability, on every DualDisc, of Video, surround and other attractive gadgets might be a possibility. Consumers, supposedly, would then turn to these new contents and formats, and this could explain why two majors are have decided increase the repulsion of mainstream consumers...
Forcing skeptical consumers into new formats is a tough job, since those old enough have already seen the damages caused by non compatible, rival formats. The give and take game here would then be that, against the price of taking away value from their most successful products, one hopes that consumers will spend more money on DVDs and DVD-Video discs, or new formats that come loaded with richer, more appealing content.