I'd say the opposite - you described the benefits of DRM-free media. You don't need to worry about OSes, devices and etc. Standard formats are accessible everywhere. And if you are using some really quirky system, you can always transcode it into supported format (that's why it's always better to buy lossless music). DRMed ones on the other hand, are tied to officially supported systems only, therefore it always will have less reach.
I think he's pointing out for example that you can discover a new song you love in spotify, add it to your playlist, have that sync with your phone automatically or if you login at work whether using the pc app or website it'll be there for you as well. Pretty much add to playlist once, play anywhere.
I'm not sure what would be involved to be able to access my music through a web browser at multiple locations that syncronises with multiple devices every time I add a song to a playlist but I don't think 'effortless' would describe it.
That's one way music availability on spotify is better, the other thing is that I honestly don't even remember what music discovery was like before spotify, I think it was mostly youtube videos...
My tastes in music aren't mass market by far and I don't buy it in huge quantities. May be it makes it easier for me, but I don't mind managing my music collection myself.
And if we are talking convenience, it's really not related to DRM. I.e. nothing stops DRM free store from offering you a sync service or anything of that sort (GOG do it with Galaxy for instance). If anything, DRM always reduces potential usability as above.
I'm sure someone could setup a drm free store that sync'd to phones etc but then I'm limited in music discovery, I don't have the sort of money to swing around at albums and songs that may or may not sound good to me.
If I have to purchase a song before I can hear it I'm reluctant to, so i'll then go to youtube and that immediately invalidates the whole point of DRM.
What would be nice is DRM free streaming, and I'm spending more time on soundcloud but again that's not as good as spotify is in anything.
> Except the insane amount of effort and cost involved in running such a system:
If you think it's proper, you can charge for such convenience (i.e. some subscription fee). Why not? Those who want it, will pay for it. If you think you can manage without charging - all the better (GOG don't charge for it for example). Nothing from the above requires DRM.
> What would be nice is DRM free streaming
Bandcamp offer that too. You can download what you paid for, and you can stream it as well.
Bandcamp is an online music store, not a music discovery service.
> Nothing from the above requires DRM.
Correct, however there's nothing currently out there that compares to spotify which is my original argument.
What you described as "the benefits of DRM-free media.", I've described as "the current inconvenience of DRM-free media.".
Maybe in the future there will be a DRM free service that has the same features as Spotify, if that's the case I'll sign up, but until then the limitations of DRM free streaming are obvious, I'm just trying to point them out to you.
Not sure what stops you from searching for something. All stores have good search functions. What other discoverability do you need? All of the above is again completely orthogonal to streaming or not streaming.
> Not sure what stops you from searching for something. All stores have good search functions.
Searching a store for music and spotify's music discoverability are not really the same thing.
Searching a store for music is like going to a bookstore, going into a genre you think you might like and then picking out a book, buying it, getting it home and finding out you don't like it, double disapointment in that you've just lost money buying something you didn't like. That's a problem spotify solved.
> What other discoverability do you need?
Spotify's discoverability is like having a librarian who has read millions of books and has seen the thousands of books you've read, then personally handing you a book there's a good chance you'll like.
On top of this you're able to read it right then and there, if you don't like it she hands you another one to check out, and another, and another, all of those based on your personal tastes with a high success chance you'll like it.
I came into this like you with a mindset of "My tastes in music aren't mass market", that must be why I struggle to find good new music, but turns out I had a problem finding it. You can see from my last.fm that in all of 2008 I had listened to 128 artists at least once, last week alone I listened to 187 artists.
It's hard to convey just how good spotify is, music discovery personanlised for you and all the music you do like, delivered in under 200ms, at a fixed cost per month that plays on all the devices I have (even my work PC) without the need to transcode, upload, download, move/copy/manage or do any work on my behalf.
Does this suggest someone can't do the above with DRM free media? No. But just like a vegan burger that tastes amazing that service isn't out there right now.
