In February 2007, Steve Jobs presented a treatise titled "Thoughts on Music" in which he wrote that Apple would be more than willing to sell music without restrictive and invasive Digital Rights Management (DRM) - citing that it was music companies that demanded this technological restriction.
On April 2, Apple announced that it will offer EMI Music's entire digital catalog DRM-free beginning in May. At $1.29, the EMI songs will be somewhat more expensive than the rest of the iTunes Store catalog (typically $0.99 per song), plus the songs will be encoded as 256Kbps AAC files - twice the sampling rate of DRM-encrypted iTunes offerings. EMI and iTunes will allow customers who previously purchased DRM-protected EMI titles to upgrade to DRM-free versions for 30 cents per title.
The non-DRM songs will be playable on any number of devices, as opposed to the Apple's original (but generous) limitations - 5 computers, unlimited iPods and unlimited (personal use only) CDs - though these have somewhat less fidelity than a commercial CD.
Apple and EMI may have really started something. Let's hope the music industry gets it.
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