This is good news for those of us that download music and have pined for removal of the dreaded DRM (digital rights management) encoding that restricts our use of the music we buy and, at the same time, degrades sound quality. Steve Jobs has been campaigning for the availability of DRM-free music for some time and it looks like the dream is coming true, albeit at a price.
EMI Music announced yesterday that it is launching new premium downloads for retail on a global basis, making all of its digital repertoire available at a much higher sound quality than existing downloads and free of DRM restrictions. The new higher quality DRM-free music will complement EMI’s existing range of standard DRM-protected downloads already available. The new DRM-free products will enable full interoperability of digital music across all devices and platforms.
Apple’s iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) is the first online music store to receive EMI’s new premium downloads. Apple has announced that iTunes will make individual AAC format tracks available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of $1.29 while continuing to offer $0.99 standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied. Complete albums from EMI Music artists purchased on the iTunes Store will automatically be sold at the higher sound quality and DRM-free, with no change in the price. Consumers who have already purchased standard tracks or albums with DRM will be able to upgrade their digital music for $0.30 per track. All EMI music videos will also be available on the iTunes Store DRM-free with no change in price.
“Apple has 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,” said Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group.
Expect higher quality DRM-free downloads from a variety of digital music stores within the coming weeks, with each retailer choosing whether to sell downloads in AAC, WMA, MP3 or other unprotected formats of their choice. Hopefully, other labels will soon follow. Keep your fingers crossed.