The Commonwealth Club radio program of the Future of Music: Digital Rights or Wrongs panel will air this week on NPR. The program will be broadcast locally in the San Francisco bay area on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 1 pm on KALW-FM, 91.7. It will air at different times across the country.

Click here to listen to this program using the RealOne Player.

Since Steve Jobs posted his open letter in February this year, calling for the abolition of DRM protected music, there has been several changes in the recording industry. EMI have taken the plunge and released their music on iTunes at a higher quality and higher price — all DRM free.

Last month, in an article in Forbes entitled “Why Online Music Will Stay Locked Up” it was noted that Universal Music Group, had been mulling the possibility of dropping usage restrictions, according to Amanda Marks, Universal’s executive vice president and general manager of digital distribution.

“It is a step that we would not take lightly,” Marks said, adding that “if further tests prove that this provides us with a net positive sales result, by which I mean sales increase more than piracy, then we will try to work out a reasonable solution.”

Just this week Digital Music News reported that Universal Music Group is now actively discussing a possible DRM-free play with Apple.

Between them, Universal and EMI have nearly 50% of the recording industry market share in music purchases. If Universal takes the plunge, it’s my bet that we’ll see the other 2 major labels, Sony BMG and Warner, quickly follow suit.

Wouldn’t it be great to be totally rid of DRM protected music this year. As a consumer, just to have full music interoperability between my different computers and music players, will open my wallet to purchase more online music. As the CEO of Avvenu, where we offer the ability to stream your iTunes music over the internet to another computer or a windows mobile phone, I’ll be happier when we can provide an even better listening experience for our users.

On May 7th, at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, I’ve been asked to moderate a panel on the Future of Music. I’ve decided on a few key topic areas to take the panel. They are: Music Sharing - Is it possible to move towards legal sharing methods, where artists and copyright holders are appropriately compensated? What will music rights and creative license mean in the world of new technologies? How will we access and enjoy music? What is the value of Music - Is 30 cents really worth it to eliminate DRM? Is the Internet surpassing radio as a means of music discovery? Will the recording industry business models be forced to change in order for the major labels to stay in business over the next few years?

If you would like me to consider other topics, or have questions you would like to ask the panel during the open Q&A, please comment on this blog post. I’ll post the answers shortly after the event.

If you are in the San Francisco bay area and would like to attend the event, tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

Panelists:
TED COHEN, Managing Partner, TAG Strategic; Former Senior Vice President, Digital Development and Distribution, EMI Music
RICHARD FRENCH, CEO, Avvenu; Former Senior Vice President, Open Source Development Network, Moderator
GERD LEONHARD, CEO, Sonific; Co-author, The Future of Music
LEE SHUPP, Vice President of Business Strategy, Cheskin; Board Member, Association of Professional Futurists; Musician