Jan
7
Sony BMG trades cards for downloaded tunes
It’s still early January, but this could go down as the dumbest idea of 2008: Sony’s new DRM-free downloads will be available only by a code from the back of a card purchased in a retail store (which will then be deposited in a landfill).
Their reasoning?
While conventional download services, such as iTunes, (AAPL) make impulse music buying easier than the cards, Sony BMG feels “strongly that there’s a group that will enjoy carrying the imagery of an artist they love around with them, or sharing it with their friends.”
At first, I found Sony’s clueless flailing to be quite funny, but it has long since become pathetic (they remind me of Britney that way). I think that I may actually be starting to feel a bit of pity.