AudioLock
Interview
Monday 2nd of August 2010
We recently caught up with Ben Rush CEO of AudioLock.NET to find out all about the new AudioLock software to protect your music.
What Is AudioLock?
AudioLock.NET is an online system which is able to monitor and protect your music and with a very low entry price is accessible to everyone from individual producers and bands through to large record companies or download stores.
How does it work?
The system uses our own watermarking technology which is used to uniquely tag every copy of music that is delivered or streamed in our system. This tied with the management and searching part of the system provides a way to find illegal copies automatically on file sharing sites, torrent trackers or any other site and to identify who the original copy of the track was delivered to. For example if a record label wanted to promote a single to members of the music press they can upload the track to AudioLock.NET send unique links to each of the journalists they want to promote to and should any of these copies make their way to the internet then AudioLock.NET will notify the record label that a copy has been found as well as who it was sent to. The person it was sent to is the responsible party who can then be contacted directly by the record label. At the same time AudioLock.NET can issue a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice to the site hosting the illegal copy and will notify the record label as soon as it has been confirmed that the file has been removed. While the technology could be used to pinpoint the offender and legal action could then be taken our feeling is that if people are made aware they can be tracked that this would be enough for most to change their mindset. Music journalists need to receive upfront music for their job. If you were to send them an email telling them you can prove that the copy they sent was leaked then they will take greater responsibility in future or face not getting any upfront music and therefore not being able to do their job.
We all remember the pain of DRM protection - where we couldn't get any music onto our MP3 players. Won't we have the same problem with AudioLock?
DRM unfortunately was easy to crack ( you can find out here) and was so restrictive that the people who actually bought DRM protected tracks were always being badgered by update notices for the players they used and could not easily transfer their music between devices while all the pirates were able to freely use the music without any of the restrictions or annoyances. The AudioLock.NET system does not stop someone using their music and allows them to use any player or device. This is because our watermarking technology works on any format as the tag is actually part of the audio signal. It is though completely inaudible so does not affect the users enjoyment of the music. The user is given full control of the music they have received and is simply asked to be responsible with it. If they share it online we can detect that it came from them.
Does the music need to be in a special format for AudioLock to work?
Not at all, the technology works on any format whether it is analogue or digital. This means you can simply add AudioLock.NET to any existing workflow such as promotion digitally to DJs and CD promotion to music press. We in fact have software in development which will run on your desktop and is able to drive popular CD/DVD burners and duplicators making it very easy to generate physical printed copies that are also protected.
What if someone converts the format of the music - doesn't the protection get lost?
Our watermarking technology is very sophisticated and is not simply a noise added at high frequency as others are. It is actually completely inaudible and can withstand multiple conversions between formats as well as other audio processing such as bandpass filtering, sample rate changes or even being degraded to very low bitrates.
Is AudioLock expensive for bands to use?
The system has been built on a business model to make it accessible to bands as well as to scale with the business. For example a band can have all the searching, DMCA take down notice technology for around £2 per track per month. Normally you would expect to pay £45 per DMCA takedown notice however we include unlimited notices within the £2 fee. The only other cost is for each time you deliver the track to someone (delivery credits). For just sending to a small number of people each delivery credit or watermark is 35p. This means the amount your are spending on protecting scales with the number of people you are sending to which in turn in related to your success. You can also purchase packages of delivery credits which if you buy enough will be as low as 1.5p per delivery credit or watermark.
Typical 5 track album sent to 10 music journalists
£12.50 per month
100 delivery credits (you get 25 free when you sign up) £10
Total cost for first month £22.50
Then £12.50 each month to continue searching for any illegal copies and issue DMCA takedown notices.
Do you need to lock a track each time I sell it in order for this to work?
The system is scalable and is able to integrate with download stores which would then mean every copy of a track sold would be protected. While this would be a quick way to stop professional downloaders in reality it will take some time for the download stores to see the full potential and to understand this would significantly boost their revenue. In the meantime you can create a watermarked copy for each of the download stores you use which would then allow you to identify which is the source of the majority of your leaks. You could then either remove your tracks from that store or encourage them to protect the sales using AudioLock.NET
Author: Steve
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