Delicate Genius Blog

In what sounds like it should be an April fools joke, EMI today announced:

that EMI Music is launching DRM-free superior quality downloads across its entire digital repertoire and that Apple’s iTunes Store will be the first online music store to sell EMI’s new download.

…

Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group, said, “Our goal is to give consumers the best possible digital music experience. By providing DRM-free downloads, we aim to address the lack of interoperability which is frustrating for many music fans. We believe that offering consumers the opportunity to buy higher quality tracks and listen to them on the device or platform of their choice will boost sales of digital music.

Tracks will cost US each $1.29 and will be CD quality mp3. Existing customers who forked out for $0.99 tracks can upgrade for $0.30 per track.

So, it seems that Steve Jobs’ little note was leading up to this announcement.

The announcement also states:

EMI expects that consumers will be able to purchase higher quality DRM-free downloads from a variety of digital music stores within the coming weeks, with each retailer choosing whether to sell downloads in AAC, WMA, MP3 or other unprotected formats of their choice. Music fans will be able to purchase higher quality DRM-free digital music for personal use, and listen to it on a wide range of digital music players and music-enabled phones.

I’ve been a staunch detractor of DRM for years. I’m still in disbelief that this has actually happened – but today is a good day. Finally, I can buy Ben Harper again!!!

-dg