Earlier this week music label EMI announced that it would sell songs on Apple’s iTunes without digital rights management. Yesterday Microsoft said it would do the same thing for its Zune Marketplace.
So do we have the beginnings of a significant move toward DFM – DRM-Free Music? Is this evidence that the market is working and responding to consumer demand? I think (hope) so.
EMI plans to offer DRM-free music for $1.29, compared to $0.99 for DRM-protected music. That buck 29 will also get you double the bit rate, or 256kbps, on downloaded songs. 256kb/s is still a far cry from the 1,411 kb/s that you get when buying a CD, but it will sound good enough for most listeners except for the audiophiles among us.
It makes sense to pay more for a product if you get more rights to do something with it. But I know that there are those people that might say DRM shouldn’t be around anyways, so consumers are paying more for something they should already have. Ultimately, consumers will decide with their dollars whether to buy a DRM version or a DFM version of their favorite music. Stay tuned….
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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