DRM-free

DRM-free audio formats enable musicians to distribute their music directly to listeners in forms that are permissionless, censorship-resistant, and which do not require listeners to sign up for third-party services or install DRM-decoding apps.

File formats that are commonly used to distribute independent traditional music include FLAC, Shorten (SHN), and OGG Vorbis.

Popularity in Bluegrass and Americana

DRM and other restrictions never gained as much traction in the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Americana genres as they did in pop music.

Every winner of both the GRAMMY award for Best Bluegrass Album and Best Americana Album since at least 2020 has been released in a DRM-free format.

Many of the most widely-played artists in these categories, such as Billy Strings, Sierra Ferrell, Michael Cleveland, and Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway have released their entire catalog in DRM-free formats.

Upgrading impaired files to DRM-free

Music that is released in impaired formats, such as through closed streaming platforms, can trivially be converted to DRM-free formats by transcoding or through the wikipedia:analog hole. This may be prohibited by the laws of various jurisdictions. Artists who are signed to restrictive labels may not be permitted to distribute music - even music that is already released - in DRM-free formats.

Fingerprinting and Watermarking

Most DRM-free music is released without a fingerprint or watermark, making it possible for artists and listeners to make copies of their music without fear that censorship regimes might later be able to trace the provenance. However, some DRM-free music is released with such watermarks. A recent example is the Billy Strings record Highway Prayers, which, unlike his previous records, includes a digital watermark.

Connection with open licensing

All music released under a license which permits copying (ie, all Creative Commons and Public Domain licenses) allow anyone to make DRM-free versions of the work. Almost all artists who chose to employ these licenses also directly release DRM-free versions of their work, although they may also release impaired versions on streaming platforms.

Many bluegrass, roots music, and jam bands release nearly all of their live shows in such a format and expressly grant their listeners the rights to redistribute in DRM-free formats, including Sam Grisman Project, Fireside Collective, Steep Canyon Rangers, Justin Holmes and The Immutable String Band, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and Tedeschi Trucks Band. Virtually all of the most-listened to bands in ardchive.org Live Music Archive are in these genres.

This practice was made popular by The Grateful Dead, whose advocacy on this issue and its connection to the advent of DRM-free file formats is described in John Perry Barlow's book, Mother American Night.