UK: EMI unlocks anti-piracy software on music

EMI, the world's third largest music company, said on Monday (April 2) it was making its music available online without a key anti-piracy measure in a deal with Apple Inc. to boost sales of digital music. EMI Group Plc, home to Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Pink Floyd, said it would make its music available without an anti-piracy measure known as digital rights management (DRM), which some consumers say makes using music cumbersome. The deal is evidence of the popularity of MP3 digital music players. MP3 is an open audio format that allows digital music fans to share songs or albums with other listeners. The music industry -- until now -- has shunned the standard in favour of formats that require some form of copy protection. "It gives me great pleasure to announce a new offering of premium digital downloads. The new premium downloads will have two key features that distinguish them from our standard downloads. First, they will be free from digital rights management, or DRM free for short, and secondly they will have vastly improved sound quality," said EMI Chief Executive Eric Nicoli. EMI cited consumer demand for high quality music on home music systems, mobile phones and digital music players. EMI said Apple Inc.'s iTunes online music store would be its first retail outlet using its new global pricing model for the higher-quality format without DRM. The new higher quality DRM-free music will complement EMI's existing range of standard DRM-protected downloads already available, EMI said at a press conference in central London with Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs. Earlier this year, Jobs called on the world's four major record companies, including EMI, to start selling songs online without DRM copy-protection software. DRM is designed to thwart piracy but also makes using music cumbersome for many consumers. Jobs argued that there appeared to be no benefit for the record companies in selling more than 90 percent of their music without DRM on compact discs, while selling the remaining small percentage of music online encumbered with DRM. "EMI is the first of the big four music companies to take this step and their entire digital music catalogue will be available DRM free on iTunes in May," Jobs said on Monday (April 2). Other retailers would decide in the coming weeks whether they sell EMI's music using the AAC, WMG or MP3 music formats at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, EMI said. Apple said iTunes would make individual tracks on the AAC format available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of 1.29 U.S. dollars, 1.29 euros and 99 pence. ITunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay 99 cents for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied. Consumers who have already bought standard tracks or albums with DRM will be able to upgrade for 30 cents (dollars and euros) and 20 pence per track. EMI music videos will be available via iTunes DRM-free with no change in price. Executives at several rival record companies said they had expected EMI to drop DRM but questioned whether EMI had done sufficient market research to justify the move. EMI's biggest market test was with Norah Jones' single "Thinking About You" in January, while Sony BMG tested the market with Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair" last summer.

ITN Source | April 3, 2007

Tags:. .improved. .remaining. .able. .range. .mobile