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Apple Announces End to DRM, for a Fee

MONDAY APRIL 2 2007 6:00 PM

Submitted by almostfamous. Edited By erin_broadley.

TAGS: Apple, iTunes, DRM, EMI, Music, Downloads

Not long ago Steve Jobs asked the world to...

Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players.

In a bold statement he challenged the Big 4 music companies to allow the iTunes Music Store to sell music free from digital rights management, making it playable on any player, as many computers as you'd like, and burnt to CD an unlimited number of times. I'd guess that was only the public spearhead of the pressure Apple applied, because it's taken less than two months for first of the Big 4 to crack.

Apple today announced that EMI Music's entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes Store worldwide in May.

But (there's always a but, isn't there?) it comes at a price.

DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song

Sounds a bit like a backdoor price increase to me. It's well known that those same Big 4 have been pressuring Steve to up the price of iTunes downloads for some time, and this announcement smells like compromise, especially considering what Jobs said in his challenge...

If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store.

So why do the $0.99 DRM laced downloads persist? What are the odds EMI would only agree to dropping DRM in exchange for a price hike, and Apple didn't want to lose the ability to advertise their songs as $0.99 downloads?

At the moment the consumer hasn't lost anything, the old products will still be available and the choice will be ours, with Jobs expecting more than half of the iTunes store's downloads to be DRM free by year's end. Still, I can't help feeling we've taken the step forward, but are just waiting for the two steps back, when Apple drops the cheaper DRM versions and leaves us all with more expensive music.

128 Comments

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... 9

mydcmbr81

Wesley Chapel, FL

October 2003

APR 02, 2007 06:04 PM

It's all about the compromise, oh and the record companies screwing us over again.

st_even

Milwaukee, WI

September 2006

APR 02, 2007 06:04 PM

What a surprise. Fuck Apple.

deanmoriarty

Los Osos, CA

July 2006

APR 02, 2007 06:13 PM

Now who would believe that large corporations would want to raise prices? I think it must all be a rumor.

IRockAPlymouth

San Lorenzo, CA

June 2004

APR 02, 2007 06:26 PM

No matter what they try to tell you apple is not your friend.

comrade

Portland, OR

April 2004

APR 02, 2007 06:35 PM

Any step away from DRM is good. The price increase blows, especially given that you can get a DRM free CD for cheaper than a full album will cost under this scheme.

eMusic has been offering DRM free tracks for way cheaper than that for a long time (years, I think), but they don't have deals with all the majors.

I'm happy to let the market sort out the pricing. For now, we should care more about the death of DRM.

mydogfarted

Waldwick, NJ

June 2003

APR 02, 2007 06:42 PM

What you're not telling people is that the non-DRM files are actually higher quality versions as well.

SignalNoise

Chicago, IL

February 2004

APR 02, 2007 06:45 PM

comrade said:
Any step away from DRM is good. The price increase blows, especially given that you can get a DRM free CD for cheaper than a full album will cost under this scheme.

So I still buy CDs so I can truly own my music - and now I'll still have to buy them 'cause it's cheaper. Alas.

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

APR 02, 2007 06:48 PM

SignalNoise said:

comrade said:
Any step away from DRM is good. The price increase blows, especially given that you can get a DRM free CD for cheaper than a full album will cost under this scheme.

So I still buy CDs so I can truly own my music - and now I'll still have to buy them 'cause it's cheaper. Alas.

Though you don't own the music. You just own the CD. If you owned the music, you'd be able to get a new copy of it if you lost the CD.

Lexiphanic

Australia

August 2005

APR 02, 2007 06:50 PM

Here's the problem, though: the average shmuck doesn't care about DRM. I think you'll find that the majority of people are going to download the 99c version instead of the $1.29 version just to save 30c per song.

And then the Big 4 will claim; "See? People WANT DRM!"

KingMike

Westfield, NY

October 2006

APR 02, 2007 06:56 PM

Lexiphanic said:
Here's the problem, though: the average shmuck doesn't care about DRM. I think you'll find that the majority of people are going to download the 99c version instead of the $1.29 version just to save 30c per song.

And then the Big 4 will claim; "See? People WANT DRM!"

I don't fit under the average shmuck model. I've never bought anything from the iTunes music store, but now that I can get a DRM free, high quality version of a song for just 30 additional cents, I would be more than happy to buy a few songs here and there. Maybe there are enough folks like me, or at least maybe apple thinks there are enough people like me, to make this worth it for them.

ObservingOne

Monroe, LA

April 2006

APR 02, 2007 06:57 PM

I think it's a good step. I want to use my music on my pda and I don't want to buy one of the sillly-looking iPhones to do it. This will allow me to do that. Hopefully the price will come down in the future or at least the album prices will be discounted.

SignalNoise

Chicago, IL

February 2004

APR 02, 2007 07:02 PM

Cigarette said:
Though you don't own the music. You just own the CD. If you owned the music, you'd be able to get a new copy of it if you lost the CD.

True enough. How about this: at least, when I buy my CD, it's easier to fool myself into believing I actually possess the product I purchased, barring me melting my CD collection down to make a glorious silver dressing gown.

Haba

Blackwood, NJ

January 2007

APR 02, 2007 07:09 PM

I almost always use the the "less than a dollar a song rule" for CDs. (CD with 10 song can't cost more than $10, unless it's jazz or something), so I'd never pay that much for a fuckin download. Now he wants more? Die already you shit companies.

bean

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

APR 02, 2007 07:20 PM

Wow, you people astound me.

"Fuck Apple! I want to own my music! They should drop DRM!"

(Apple offers DRM-free songs)

"Fuck Apple! I don't want to pay an extra 30 cents to get tracks I can play anywhere, even if they are offering a higher quality encoding!"

For THIRTY FUCKING CENTS they're offering the number one most-asked-for feature (and, some considered, the least-likely feature to become reality) in the world of digital music sales. They managed to get a giant record label to offer their entire catalog DRM-free. They should be lauded for this. It's a gigantic step forward for music consumers.