Techcrunch reports that EMI and Apple have just announced that they will be selling DRM Free music on iTunes at a premium rate of $1.29 a song. This is in all probability the beginning of the end of DRM, especially for music. DRM was a bad idea, both in concept and execution, and the fact that a major label has decided to go this route is a big step.
A few things still irk me though. Why sell the DRM free music for $0.30 a track more than their crippled music? Why not simply replace the DRM'ed tracks with the higher quality DRM free tracks in the catalogue? It can't be a cost thing - if anything DRM free tracks are cheaper to convert, store and sell because you are cutting out all of the license rights and DRM management that you had to do before. Its not like DRM free music was not available before - they are called CD's.
Also, the cynic in me says that this is Steve Jobs' way of giving in to the major label's requests to raise the price of their music above $0.99 a track on iTunes - something Jobs has resisted until now. Now that we have a $1.29 price point expect to see the other major labels following suit pretty quickly.
This is pure speculation, but I bet EMI and Apple have worked out some kind of way to fingerprint downloaded tracks too. Conspiracy theorists, you heard it here first.
None of this will impact my music purchases much - I buy 95% of all my music at Emusic.com - high quality DRM free tracks at under $0.25 a track, and most of the catalogue is available for download in South Africa.
Techcrunch: EMI, Apple To Sell DRM-Free Music for $1.29/song