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| EMI, Apple Announce DRM-Free Digital Sales Plan |
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EMI, Apple Announce DRM-Free Digital Sales Plan
EMI and Apple will now sell DRM-free catalog on the iTunes Store, according to a joint announcement issued today.
The move is groundbreaking, and shatters a previously ironclad commitment to digital protections by the major labels.
The decision means that well-known tracks from artists like the Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, Lily Allen, and Janet Jackson can now be downloaded in a protection-free format, an approach that eliminates usage and sharing restrictions.
The company pointed to a refreshed product line that will feature "a much higher sound quality than existing downloads," and one that will be "free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions".
Specifically, the label will offer its catalog to digital music stores in a range of higher bitrates, including CD-quality fidelities. According to Steve Jobs, the DRM-free offering will be exclusively unveiled by iTunes in May.
Other stores will offer the DRM-free catalog at dates thereafter.
The move represents a major shift, though several asterisks are dangling.
The tracks themselves are being branded as "premium downloads," and will carry an elevated price tag above "standard," DRM-protected tracks.
Instead of a standard, 99 cent, 79 pence, or 99 euro price tag, the premium tracks will be priced at $1.29, 0.99 pence, or ?1.29.
Both premium and standard tracks will sit alongside one another, and consumers will have the ability to upgrade their standard versions by simply paying the difference.
That approach breaks an iTunes commitment to uniform pricing and format, and conflicts with earlier philosophies expressed by Jobs.
But during the unveiling, Jobs noted that the offering means greater choice, and a more fine-tuned offering.
"We think our customers are really going to appreciate this," Steve Jobs said.
"iTunes will continue to offer its current catalog at the same price, alongside the DRM-free, higher quality versions..
Jobs also disclosed that the iTunes Store has now sold more than 2.5 billion tracks.
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I was just going to post about that. Sounds like they're taking a step in the right direction, at last.
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will there by a higher royalty/payout for premium tracks?
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Yeah, just read it. Hope CDBABY tracks will DRM-free on iTunes!
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Report: EU Launches iTunes Probe
Apr 2 06:30 PM US/Eastern
LONDON (AP) - European Union regulators are investigating Apple Inc.'s iTunes online music store for possible violation of competition rules, a British newspaper reported Monday.
The Financial Times said Apple and several major music companies had been sent a "statement of objections" alleging that the deals underpinning the sale of music through iTunes in Europe might violate competition rules.
The newspaper said the European Commission had sent a letter outlining the accusations to Apple and "major record companies" including Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music and EMI Group PLC.
The newspaper said the charges centered on the fact that, in Europe, iTunes prohibits users in one country from downloading music from a Web site intended to serve another.
It quoted a spokesman for EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes as saying that Apple's agreements restricted music sales "in the sense that consumers can only buy music from the iTunes store in their country of residence"—a possible violation of the EU's rules against restrictive business practices.
Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the company wanted to operate a single store for all of Europe, but music labels and publishers said there were limits to the rights that could they could grant to Apple.
"We don't believe Apple did anything to violate EU law," he said. "We will continue to work with the EU to resolve this matter."
Also Monday, Apple and EMI announced a deal that would allow EMI's music to be sold on iTunes minus anti-piracy software that limits its use on some players. The move is expected to be watched—and likely followed—by other record labels.
The lock between download services and players have also drawn criticism from European industry regulators, who argue that they limits buyer choice.
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Derek I am glad you are working towards this too. I think the vast majority of CDBaby artists will want to be in on the DRM free iTunes offerings, and the sooner the better. Since we are already offering DRM free downloads through eMusic and others in the digital distribution program here, there is no reason not to be part of the leading edge in the switch to DRM free iTunes. I look forward to hearing that all my songs are offered DRM free at iTunes, so do your magic and keep us updated.
Rench
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Excellent! It will be great to get rid of that DRM. We will finally be able to recommend iTunes without disclaimers.
Thanks in advance Derek.
War-N
Hungry Lucy
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I just did an interview with MacWorld.com on this subject. I think it's great that the DRM has been removed. It was pretty silly to begin with. Anyone can go out and buy a cd and it has no restrictions on it and you can share it with anyone you want. I think it's about time that iTunes removed the restrictions. This is great for independent musicians!
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Oh, yes please - the whole DRM thing really annoys me, as I don't
think it serves any useful purpose apart form turning your songs
into crippleware. It's all wrong.
If you can swing this, Derek, then I promise to wear dry clothes
next time we meet.
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Now that iTunes 7.2 is here and the DRM-free music along with
it, it occurred to me that there was a danger of it becoming a
two-tier system where only major-label acts would be available
in the higher quality format and 'the rest' might be seen as a
budget category - so it's great to hear from Derek that he's
working on getting CDBaby albums up in both formats. A
strong move for equality!
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