What the EMI/Apple announcement means to you
EMI, one of the major music publishers worldwide, annouced today that they would offer their music free of digital rights management (DRM), a form of copy protection that has become commonplace in the industry. While compact discs have generally remained free of DRM, most digital music sold online comes protected. This means that you cannot easily copy your music from one computer to another. Apple, with its iTunes and iPod combo, allows you to synchronize your iPod with a single computer, and allows you to place your music on up to 5 computers. This is a reasnoable restriction for many, but can still be inconvenient to maintain as computers are upgraded. Furtermore, there are several copy protection schemes out there, and they are not interoperable. Microsoft alone has two incompatible systems. Apple’s iTunes DRM (called FairPlay) works only with iTunes and iPods. This means that copy protected tracks cannot be copied to cell phones and other non-Apple devices. Similarly, tracks protected with Microsoft’s DRM cannot be used in iTunes or on iPods. This essentially locks you into a single companies products for electronic music purchases. Despite being enforced by companies like Apple that sell the music, it has primarily been the music companies that have demanded this copy protection.
EMI announced today that they would allow companies like Apple to sell their music free of any DRM. Apple announced that they would start selling these tracks in May along with the traditional copy-protected tracks. The DRM-free music will be slightly more expensive ($1.29 vs $0.99) per track, but cost the same if an entire album is purchased. Those with existing EMI tracks can upgrade to the DRM-free version for $0.30 per track. The DRM-free versions will have the added bonus of having higher sound quality; this is not a result of removing the DRM, but helps to justify to the increased cost.
Does this mean you can now allow your friends to freely music you purchase? While this may now be technically easier to accomplish, it is still illegal, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been on a lawsuit rampage target music copiers.
Bottom line: Tech Recs recommends spending the extra money to buy the music free of DRM to ensure you can use it on any device you choose in the future.