Confirming what nearly everyone suspected when they heard EMI Music Group would be holding a press conference with Steve Jobs this morning (afternoon) in London, the third-largest music company has announced it will offer high-bitrate DRM-free digital downloads (with iTunes as the first online retailer to sell them).
Though individual tracks will cost $1.29 (a $.30 increase) for the superior quality, albums will remain $9.99, and you have the option of upgrading your previously purchased music by paying the difference.
No word on when iTunes will introduce the new stuff, but this is truly a momentous day, and TechCrunch has already marked April 2, 2007 as “The Day DRM Died.” I suspect we will see a couple other big companies come out with similar announcements sooner than later (in the spirit of freedom, of course, not competition *wink*).
EMI press release
Apple press release
Audio webcast
02 April 2007
EMI Music Announces DRM-Free Downloads
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