Universal Music is in talks with its best-selling rap artist Eminem to deploy copy protection technology on all upcoming CD releases of "The Eminem Show," marking the biggest move yet to protect its top acts from music piracy, a label official told Reuters Wednesday.
If the discussions between Universal and Eminem"s Universal-owned label Interscope Records get approved, it would be the most significant new music release to come embedded with copy-proof technology, a new innovation adopted by the major labels to thwart the rampant rise of consumer piracy, which they claim is hurting CD sales.
Universal and Eminem would need to strike an agreement on whether or not to release the security-enhanced CDs in the next two weeks to meet manufacturing deadlines for the June 3 release date outside the United States, a Universal spokesman said.
In a related move, Universal is also closely monitoring the circulation of Eminem"s first single "Without Me," the company said. The number of promotional copies, ordinarily delivered to radio stations and the media, has been limited to ensure it doesn"t fall into the wrong hands. (These promo CD"s have NO copy protection and have in the past been somewhat of a source for the ripping of the music into mp3 format!).
Consumers have objected to the new technology saying it only allows them to play the CDs on home stereos -- the discs do not play on PCs, most portable devices, and in some cases, in car stereo systems.
Until now, the technology has been confined to releases in select geographic markets. It"s never been deployed for a global release or for an artist with the immense following of Eminem, setting the stage for the label"s biggest PR battle yet in its fight against music piracy and rampant CD burning.
"Clearly, we will have a better sense of how the market feels about copy-protection when a release of Eminem"s stature, should we decide to do it, comes with copy-protection on it," said Adam White, Universal Music International spokesman in London.