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EMI release DRM-free back catalogue
Dean Mortlock
0 comments 02 April 2007
Despite hopes for a Beatles-related announcement, EMI used this morning’s press conference to reveal that their digital back catalogue would soon be available DRM-free.
Today’s press conference at EMI’s headquarters announced that, from May, EMI would be making their entire digital back catalogue available without any user restrictions and also at a much higher bitrate. ‘Premium’ tracks will be able to be bought at 256 Kbps at a higher price of $1.29 (around 99p), although despite no showing for FairPlay (Apple’s own Digital Rights Management software), they’ll still be in the AAC format – so will need to be converted to run on other players.
Those who have previously bought EMI tracks from the iTunes Store will be able to upgrade to the new format for a cost of around 30 cents. Normal, 128 Kbps songs will still be available at the standard price of 79p.
EMI’s music videos will also lose DRM, although the price and resolution of these will remain unchanged.
Apple hope to have around 2.5 million songs in the new format available by the end of the year.
In a Q&A session with Steve Jobs at the end of the announcement, he was asked when The Beatles were coming to the iTunes Store and he simply replied ‘Don’t know yet’.
Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group, said, "Our goal is to give consumers the best possible digital music experience. 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.
"Apple have been a true pioneer in digital music, and we are delighted that they share our vision of an interoperable market that provides consumers with greater choice, quality, convenience and value for money."
"Selling digital music DRM-free is the right step forward for the music industry," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "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."
There’s no doubt that opening up the iTunes Store (even in this small initial step) will create more sales for Apple and damage their competitors, but will it also have an adverse effect on iPod sales if users are free to download tracks and use them on any player? Time will tell…
Mac Rumours had a live feed running from the press conference. For more information, go here.
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