Here's a PC Magazine article about EMI agreement wih Apple to allow Apple to release EMI catalog content free of DRM restrictions through iTunes. It's about time! EMI is the first producer to remove DRM restrictions. Jobs of course thinks all restrictions should be removed when purchasing on-line music content. Go get your iPods!
By Mark Hachman, ExtremeTech EMI and Apple agreed to a new contract Monday that will see EMI releasing all of its music catalog without DRM restrictions, for a slight premium. The Apple iTunes Music store will sell the unprotected AAC-encoded tracks at double the existing bitrate, or about 256 kilobits per second, for $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. Albums sold will automatically be upgraded to the higher bitrate for the same price, Apple said. If a customer wishes to upgrade his existing EMI music to the higher-bitrate/DRM free version, he will pay $0.30/€0.30/£0.20 per track.The move follows trials where EMI released unprotected tracks into the marketplace. Executives said the decision was based upon market demand. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, meanwhile, had publicly called upon labels to release their music without DRM restrictions.
"Selling digital music DRM-free is the right step forward for the music industry," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement. "EMI has been a great partner for iTunes and is once again leading the industry as the first major music company to offer its entire digital catalogue DRM-free."
EMI executives said they now agreed with Jobs' stance.
"Our goal is to give consumers the best possible digital music experience," said Eric Nicoli, chief executive of the EMI Group, in a statement. "By providing DRM-free downloads, we aim to address the lack of interoperability which is frustrating for many music fans. We believe that offering consumers the opportunity to buy higher quality tracks and listen to them on the device or platform of their choice will boost sales of digital music."
A Scandinavian watchdog group also welcomed the move.
"No matter how the digital music market develops, today will always stand out [as] a very important date, the day when two of the really big market players finally took responsibility that follows from the position and made an interoperable solution available to consumers," said Torgeir Waterhouse, senior advisor to the Norwegian Consumer Council, in an email. "I applaud their move, and encourage all the other contenders in the digital music business to make the same important move."
Waterhouse said however that the decision between the two firms does not free Apple of its legal obligation to provide interoperable music, which the Norwegian government has demanded Apple do by the end of September. This month, the EU also spoke out.
"It's important to note that this move does not take the heat off iTunes for the end of September deadline," Waterhouse added. "By the end of September they need to alter the terms of service and DRM used in the iTunes Music Store to provide a fair deal to the consumers who legally buy music. Still, this move by EMI and Apple today should serve as proof that it really is possible to fix the problems the industry has chosen to introduce with DRM."