When companies what to announce big news, they call press conferences. Which means the press get to know something is going on and can do some digging, leading to speculation such as this from the WSJ (behind paywall)
In a major reversal of the music industry’s longstanding antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC is set to announce Monday that it plans to sell significant amounts of its catalog without anticopying software, according to people familiar with the matter.
The London-based music company is to make its announcement in a press conference that will feature Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs. EMI is to sell songs without the software — known as digital rights management, or DRM — through Apple’s iTunes Store and possibly through other online outlets, too
The BBC have have a story online which proposes that they are going to release The Beatles as digital songs. I think of the two stories, I prefer the first option, the removal of DRM, which will have a far larger impact. By doing so, you will remove the hassle and nuisance that comes from buying songs, burning them and then ripping back so you can use on the device of your choice. You can do it with CDs, so why do anything different with the pure digital version. But even though the lack of DRM must surely mean the process becomes easier, I guess they won’t bring the price down 😉
Update: and EMI are going DRM free – and putting the price up!
Apple has announced that iTunes will make individual AAC format tracks available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. iTunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay $0.99/€0.99/£0.79 for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied. Complete albums from EMI Music artists purchased on the iTunes Store will automatically be sold at the higher sound quality and DRM-free, with no change in the price.”>EMI is releasing the premium downloads in response to consumer demand for high fidelity digital music for use on home music systems, mobile phones and digital music players. EMI’s new DRM-free products will enable full interoperability of digital music across all devices and platforms…Apple has announced that iTunes will make individual AAC format tracks available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. iTunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay $0.99/€0.99/£0.79 for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied. Complete albums from EMI Music artists purchased on the iTunes Store will automatically be sold at the higher sound quality and DRM-free, with no change in the price.
Ahhh, the joys of press release language, where EMI is being so kind and beneficial in offering this type of file for us as they think it will make our life better. Instead of it being a reaction to the cold realities that people do not want crippled files and want stuff that just works.
