Apr
02
2007Apple to Sell DRM-Free Music from EMI
02
2007
This is huge. Apple and EMI have announced that Apple will begin selling DRM-free tracks from EMI, one of the “big four” record companies. I never saw this coming—at least not this soon. I figured some indie labels might have jumped first, but that would have just been a small baby step—and Steve Jobs isn’t exactly a fan of incremental change. I’m not sure how Jobs pulled it off, but kudos to him.
Now begins a great social experiment. DRM detractors have long claimed that DRM free music will sell better than protected music - the argument being that, thanks to the ubiquity of the Internet, a single unprotected file can spread just as fast as a million copies, so you’re only inconveniencing the “good guys”. Remove the DRM and the convenience factor will convince the good guys to buy more music. I want to believe this is true. I hope this is true. Now we get to find out.