|
Amazon.com to sell DRM free music
• EMI unlocks catalogue of over 150,000 songs to be offered in MP3 format
 Related Articles |
|
|
 On the Web |
|
|
By
The Minx, Music Editor
Wednesday,
16 May, 2007
Amazon.com announced on 16 May 2007 that it will open a digital music store later this year featuring songs without anti-piracy technology, enabling buyers to play songs on virtually any device and copy them to CDs.
Amazon said it will sell individual songs and albums from 12,000 record labels, including EMI Music's digital playlist, in the MP3 format, which can be played on a wide variety of digital music players, from Apple's iPod to Microsoft's Zune.
Amazon's songs will be free of digital rights management software (DRM), which can be used to prevent copying and limits the range of devices that can play the songs. No opening date or charging structure has so far been announced.
"We think having a trusted destination like Amazon.com offer a high-quality digital music product that will play across a number of devices gives consumers more options and will be a significant boost for the overall digital music market," said EMI Chief Executive Officer Eric Nicoli in a statement.
Music industry leaders, which have relied on DRM to battle digital piracy and protect their copyrighted products, have been reluctant to drop the technology for fear it will further undermine music sales as users can make unlimited copies and share them illegally.
Earlier this year, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs urged the major music companies to stop using the electronic locks, a strategy that he and others believe will stimulate music sales.
In addition, eliminating the digital rights software puts songs purchased through online stores on the same footing as CDs, which don't include anti-piracy features, industry observers have argued.
Last month, EMI, the world's fourth-largest record label and distributor of such acts as Coldplay, said that it had agreed to sell its 150,000-song catalog through Apple's iTunes store without the anti-piracy protections.
The companies plan to charge $1.29 -- 30 cents more than other iTunes songs -- for tracks with better sound quality and none of the digital locks designed to prevent theft
The Naked Reader 2007
| 
