Tuesday, April 3, 2007

let the music do the talking

At least one record company is finally getting it!

EMI announced yesterday that they will sell their music DRM free on iTunes. This is a huge step forward for digital music. Basically, DRM software prevents songs purchased from iTunes to be transferred to a digital player other than an iPod. Selling music without this copyright protection is a huge advantage for Apple, but also for the consumer. The iTunes Music Store has the best digital catalog of all of the online suppliers. Without DRM, this catalog is opened up to all owners of digital music players, not just iPod owners.

The only thing I'm not sure of is the new price. DRM free tracks will sell for $1.29 each instead of the standard iTunes charge of $0.99. Why are we paying more for something we never should have been burdened with in the first place?

Regardless of the price, this is a huge move forward. It's only a matter of time before other record companies follow suit.

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