ERA Digital, the previously reported digitally focused bit of the Entertainment Retailers Association, have announced a five point plan which they reckon will help maintain and further the growth of the digital music market.
With the support of the likes of hmv.com, Play.com, 7digital.com, Orange, EUK, digitalstores.co.uk, Playlouder MSP and Trackitdown.net, the five-point plan doesn't contain too many surprises, though it does call for a commercial rather than legislative solution to the current music industry v internet service provider stand off over policing P2P file sharing. Other points make the usual demands on record companies and the publishing collecting societies to be more helpful, call for DRM in the a-la-carte download market to be dropped once and for all, and for the music business at large to invest some time into "understanding the digital music consumer".
The full five-point plan reads as follows...
One: A commercially-driven and collaborative approach to ISPs.
ERA Digital believes that illegal file-sharing and the unwitting role played in facilitating it by internet service providers are best addressed commercially.
Two: A more open approach to new models from the recording industry.
While ERA Digital notes and supports the progress made by the record industry in supporting new models beyond the a-la-carte download, it believes a step-change in openness is required. Too often the starting point for discussions is custom and practice in the physical world.
Three: Encouraging competition among collection societies.
Collection societies acting on behalf of songwriters and music publishers and record companies and artists are key to the successful development of many new business models. They should be encouraged to further modernise and improve efficiency to reduce costs. Where it makes sense, global licensing should be encouraged.
Four: Digital Rights Management
DRM should be abandoned for a-la-carte downloads. It is confusing and inconvenient for the music fan and hampers music sales. ERA Digital continues, however, to support DRM where it is needed to enable new models.
Five: Clearer understanding of the digital music consumer.
Much more work is still required to better understand consumer attitudes to and requirements from digital music services. It also sees a need for new charts tracking digital music consumption.
Launching the plan, ERA Digital chair Russel Coultart told CMU: "Too often the debate about the future of music is dominated by the interests of producers rather than of consumers. As the link in the chain closest to the consumer, it is right and appropriate that ERA Digital should align itself with the interests of music fans. Our five-point-plan goes a long way towards identifying the areas of keenest interest to music fans".