PriceSCAN Blog

So for an extra $0.30, you get a download that will lack any copy-prevention feature and is said to be playable on most non-iPod players and non-Mac computers. The music is sold in AAC format encoded at 256 Kbps, double the rate of previous iTunes (though this is still far "lower res" than either standard CDs or Audio-DVD).
To be sure, not all of EMI's catalogue may be available under the arrangement (EMI's Beatles tracks will not be included, for example), nor is it clear if other labels will follow suit and cut similar deals with Apple or other download stores (EMI is said to intend to distribute DRM-free through other e-tailers besides iTunes). But this does appear to be a step in the direction I called for in February of this year, in which Apple would offer to sell without DRM for any label or independent artist desiring such distribution (see "How Steve Jobs Could Show He's Sincere About Eliminating DRM"). The initiative also demonstrates Apple's faith in the excellence of its Mac and iPod designs and in the security of the market position of the iTunes store.
Yet perhaps most interesting of all is the fact that this transaction begins the process of pricing the elimination of digital rights management. The thirty cent price tag may represent an acknowledgment by both Apple and EMI um, that the technical and legal environments don't bode well for the long-term elimination of copying and file sharing. Then again, the seemingly modest DRM-free track premium may be telling us something else. It may just be that the level of interest in a lot of the music out there is so low that you practically have to pay someone to share it with a friend. After all, what does the zero premium for a DRM-free album say about the value of the "non-hot" tracks, and the likelihood that anyone would care to share them?