DRM-Free Audio Books: This Could Really Work

Recently, I received a post from an email list I'm on citing the coming availability of downloadable audio books without Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection. The post cited a March 3 New York Times article, in which top publishers, including Random House, announced plans to make their audio books available without the dreaded DRM.

Personally, I like this idea for many reasons.

More Choices

Without the restrictions of DRM, consumers will be able to place their audio books on any MP3/digital media player they own, burn them to CD, or listen to them on their computers without restriction. No more having to worry about whether your player is compatible with a site's downloads.

Greater Interest in audio books amongst the general population

I personally think, once people don't have to worry about the restrictions of DRM, and worry whether or not they have the right hardware or software player, more people will buy more audio books. Those of us who are blind have used audio books for years, and many sighted people are starting to use them in the car, on the bus, on planes, and just to listen to around the house. These numbers will only increase.

If the music industry can do it, why not the book industry?

I realize some people will be worried about piracy if the books become available in a DRM-free MP3 format. Personally, I think we'll see a decrease in piracy as more music and now books become available for consumers to purchase and do as they wish. DRM made legally buying audio cumbersome. You had to check the retailer's list of approved players. If you owned an iPod, you couldn't buy from stores other than iTunes if the store you wanted to buy from used the Windows Media format and DRM. If you were a blind person, many of the services didn't have accessible interfaces, and it was sometimes difficult to activate the license for your file once you had it downloaded...It was just easier to use a P2P client. Sadly, the P2P software is generally more accessible than iTunes or Napster or Yahoo Music.

Now, with MP3s, the downloads are more straightforward, and once downloaded, you access the file as you would any other MP3 that you'd ripped from your CD collection.

In the end, I think publishers will see a growth in audio book sales, and a decline in piracy. I think that once consumers know they can have their audio books on their terms, they'll be happy to purchase them as downloads.

Feel free to leave your comments on this subject. I'm interested to know what all of you think.