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Apple and EMI Music have announced that the label's entire digital catalog will be available without DRM (digital rights management) copy-protection from the iTunes Music Store beginning in May. The DRM-free songs will be sold at a higher audio quality of 256kbps in the .AAC format, but at the higher price of $1.29 each.

“We are going to give iTunes customers a choice—the current versions of our songs for the same 99 cent price, or new DRM-free versions of the same songs with even higher audio quality and the security of interoperability for just 30 cents more,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “We think our customers are going to love this, and we expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year.”

“EMI and iTunes are once again teaming up to move the digital music industry forward by giving music fans higher quality audio that is virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings, with no usage restrictions on the music they love from their favorite artists,” said EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli.

Apple will also offer consumers the ability to upgrade all previously-purchased EMI tracks to the 256kbps, DRM-free versions for 30 cents per song. All EMI music videos will also be available DRM-free, without any change in the price.

The announcement was made at a press conference in London, which included a brief performance by EMI act The Good, The Bad & The Queen and an appearance by Jobs. The Apple chief said that the move towards DRM-free songs is "the next big step forward in the digital-music revolution" and added that "Apple will reach out to all the major and independent labels to give them the same opportunity," according to CNet.

When word came out over the weekend that EMI and Apple were planning a major announcement on Monday, initial speculation focused on the long-rumored deal to bring The Beatles' catalog to iTunes. When asked at the press conference when the Beatles announcement would happen, Jobs quipped "I want to know that too." Nicoli confirmed that "we're working on it."


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Original Article: FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!

Source: FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!

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2ox

the DRM-free idea is great. I hate the fact I can only burn a song 4 or 5 times. but a $1.29/song??? not sure if I would pay that much.