3.4.07 | EMI To Ditch DRM?
That’s the rumour folks. We all know that Apple and EMI have been closeted away in recent weeks working on some major digital music announcement. Beatles fans have been lovingly stroking their framed photos of the Fab 4 while sticking needles in Yoko Ono dolls in the hope that they could be downloading Beatles music via iTunes. However, something more important is in the ether.
Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, has arrived in London and will be joining EMI for a 'special' announcement today which is expected/alleged/rumoured to revolve around EMI offering some of its music without DRM protection. Jobs has already called for DRM to be ditched, much to the consternation of the music publishers and the delight of consumers.
It might not be a lot of music freed up today but as one of the big four music publishers [EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and Universal], this is a very big deal – especially since the others want no part of a DRM-free world.
Could EMI’s move force the others to re-evaluate the use of DRM? I certainly hope so.