The Good, The Bad, and The DRM-free
EMI Music has become the first major to offer digital rights management (DRM) free downloads via iTunes. The catch? Thirty cents more per track (via Billboard). EMI's new "higher quality" DRM-free music will first be available on Apple's iTunes Music Store for $1.29 a track. At this morning's (April 2) press conference in London, EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli and Apple CEO Steve Jobs were joined by Parlophone/EMI act the Good, the Bad & the Queen, who performed two songs.
The new premium versions of EMI's digital songs will complement the existing DRM-protected songs that iTunes is already selling. Other online music retailers are expected to come on board soon. Apple paid a $5 million advance to EMI for the right to sell music with DRM, sources familiar with the situation say. Apple and EMI declined comment.
