EMI-Apple in deal to sell DRM-free music

EMI Group PLC. Today announced a deal with Apple Inc.'s iTunes to sell its music catalog without the anti-piracy protection known as DRM restrictions.

The London-based music company said in a press release that it would make the premium downloads available for retail on a global basis.

"Selling digital music DRM-free is the right step forward for the music industry," Steve Jobs, Apple's (up $0.00 to $92.91, Charts) CEO, said in a statement. "EMI has been a great partner for iTunes and is once again leading the industry as the first major music company to offer its entire digital catalogue DRM-free."

During a press conference in London Monday, Eric Nicoli, the CEO of EMI Group, said that he expected music sales for his company to increase since the DRM-free tracks will have better sound quality and will be easier to transfer from one device to another.

"Many consumers find it frustrating that they don't have interoperability," Nicoli said. Tracks without DRM will cost consumers extra however - songs without DRM will sell for $1.29 a download on iTunes versus standard prices of 99 cents per download.

Jobs said that EMI deserves a lot of credit for being the first major label to sell music without DRM protection. He would not comment on whether other labels were talking with Apple about selling their music without DRM.

Jobs stressed that EMI's decision was a good first step for the music industry that made sense since the big four music labels - Sony BMG, which is a joint venture of consumer electronics giant Sony (Charts) and German media firm Bertelsmann, Warner Music Group (Charts), Vivendi-owned Universal Music and EMI - already sell CDs without DRM protection.

"Customers get what they want and music companies will make a little more money by offering more value. Everybody wins here," Jobs said.

EMI's move comes almost two months after Jobs wrote an open letter to the music industry on Apple's Web site urging the labels to drop DRM

But Jobs added that Apple is not looking to sell videos without DRM just yet, however. The company currently sells movies and TV shows from several entertainment companies.

Despite widespread speculation, EMI did not announce any deal regarding the release of Beatles' music, which is not available on any download service.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/02/news/companies/EMI/?postversion=2007040209