BMG Plans More Copy-Protected Releases

05/28/2004 6:22 PM, Reuters
Ed Christman

With the announcement that it will issue three more albums with copy protection, BMG Distribution and its labels have quietly emerged as the U.S. industry leader in experimenting with copy-protection technology.

BMG refers to its application of the SunnComm technology as "copy management." BMG Canada, going forward, is also planning to apply copy management in tandem with the U.S. schedule.

Since September, when the company debuted the technology on Anthony Hamilton's "Comin' From Where I'm From," it has issued 11 albums in the United States with copy management, BMG Distribution executive VP/GM Jordan Katz says.

This summer, the company will issue three albums with copy management: "Contraband," due June 8 from Velvet Revolver; "Stone Love," due July 6 from Angie Stone ; and "Dirty Thirstiest" due July 20 from Yung Wun.

Katz says BMG is "taking the approach first and foremost to be in tune with what the consumers expect from their music listening experience."

Specifically, he says, consumers want playability across all standard devices, and they want to be able to make copies and share tracks.

BMG's copy management allows consumers to make three copies of a CD. They can also share tracks by e-mailing links through SunnComm's TuneShare PromoPlay feature. The e-mail recipients can listen to tracks for 10 days before they are timed out.

In addition to the Hamilton album, BMG U.S. releases with copy management include J-Kwon's "Hood Hop"; 40 Below Summer's "The Morning After," on Razor & Tie; eight albums from BMG Mexico; and four singles.

"We have shipped as a group around 2 million commercial copies with SunnComm and have received slightly more than 100 inquiries on the help line, which is extremely satisfying," Katz says.

The company included consumer surveys in the Hamilton and J-Kwon albums and received more than 1,000 responses.

Of Hamilton listeners, 89% felt the terms of copy management were "very to somewhat reasonable," as did 91% of J-Kwon listeners.

In the second, third and fourth weeks after each album's release, its sales declined less than expected, Katz says.

"I wouldn't draw a definitive conclusion to how much copy management thwarts casual burning, but it certainly appears to some impact."

While copy protection has been tested widely in markets elsewhere, its U.S. application has been limited.

UMVD has issued five albums with copy protection, but none in the past two years.

Reuters/Billboard