It is finally happened. It looks like one of the major record labels if finally breaking ranks. It appears that
EMI will allow their music to be sold on iTunes without DRM. This is not really a surprise. People have been talking about this for months now. People have thought EMI would be the first company to break rank. They are the weakest of the major labels. People have thought that they would be the most likely to take the risk.
Will this be a typing point? This is hard to say. How to listeners, fans, and customers decide what music to buy. It has little to do with where they can buy it or what label the band it on. The number one people buy music is because they like it. If EMI does not release music that people like this will not help them. What it might help is with getting more people to pay for music they might get some other way.
This is a good start. I do not think that we are close to other companies joining EMI. I think that companies are going to resist a lot before they agree to also go without DRM. The number one thing customers can do is vote with our wallets. Lets all go and download songs from EMI when the DRM goes away.
Labels: apple, DRM, EMI, iTunes, music
