Steve Jobs and EMI Press Conference - No More DRM?

[MacRumors]

Macworld.co.uk is reporting that Apple and EMI will be hosting a joint announcement on Monday, April 2nd.

The press invite reads:

Please join EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli at EMI’s headquarters on Monday 2 April at 1pm London/8am New York time to hear about an exciting new digital offering, with special guest, Apple CEO Steve Jobs."

A special live performance from an unannounced artist will also take place.

Late last week, MacRumors had heard rumblings that Steve Jobs and EMI would jointly announce the dropping of Digital Rights Management for EMI's music associated with iTunes. We were unable to confirm, so we were unable to publish, but this invitation certainly adds credence to this story.

EMI has previously been rumored to have been considering dropping Digital Rights Management from their music. Add to this, Steve Jobs plea to the industry to stop forcing Digital Rights Manangement.

Macworld.co.uk speculates that this may also relate to the rumored Beatles / iTunes distribution partnership, but no new rumors on this have emerged.

(Note: This story is not an April Fools joke.)

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[Willis]

wow, big news.

if music didnt have DRM, I'd probably buy more of iTunes.. I still like my Cd's though

EDIT... my Name, Intellectual Willis.. thats amazing!!!

[Telp]

If this is true, Mazel Tov Steve Jobs, and nice work. This could be a huge step foward in the music industry.

[evilgEEk]

It's a good thing you put the "Note:" on the end, because this would surely be thought of an April Fool's Joke.

But if this is true it's great!

Maybe it will inspire others to follow suit.

[Max Payne]

Great news for all music fans.

[cheunghy]

How about DRM-less + the rumored Apple Lossless encoding?

Though it's nothing related to me... There is no iTunes Store here in Hong Kong...

[orkle]

Amazing. The next thing is for them to start offering downloads in a lossless format, then I'm there!

[Telp]

Originally Posted by evilgEEk

It's a good thing you put the "Note:" on the end, because this would surely be thought of an April Fool's Joke.

But if this is true it's great!

Maybe it will inspire others to follow suit.

Wouldn't that be a hoot!

[cr2sh]

*YAWN....*

Apple DRM has been the reason I've lately topped buying music off itunes lately.

This is a welcome change.

[Montserrat]

Woohoo - sent the MacWorld link to MR AIM thingy - don't know if I got there first.
BBC also picked it up pretty sharpish
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6516189.stm

I would definitely buy more iTunes if they were DRM free. I like to fish out random tracks to DJ with on Traktor, but then have to go to places like bleep.com or go and buy/order the physical cd. Can be **** having to buy the CD when the artist in question has only released a couple of tracks which are hidden away on random compilations, when you only like a couple of the tracks on the whole compilation. Would be nice to be able to pick out tracks then put them in Traktor. Think it might turn into a spending spree though...

P.S I was concierge Montserrat a moment ago. What happened? I kinda liked it, particularly after having just watched a documentary on pre-revolution France...

Edit - concierge is back

[BilltheCat]

makes me want to go buy something from iTunes to celebrate!

[Fuchal]

http://www.nme.com/news/27466

The Beatles' music finally set for download release?
Apple and EMI set for major announcement tomorrow
2 hours ago

Speculation is mounting that The Beatles' back catalogue will finally become available to download.

Apple have called a press conference at the EMI label headquarters in London tomorrow (April 2), where boss Steve Jobs will make a major announcement about iTunes.

The Beatles and Apple recently settled a long-running legal dispute over use of the Apple brand name, clearing the way for a deal to be struck over the digital release of their music. Since EMI control the band's catalogue, insiders are predicting that a deal between the two will be announced tomorrow.

The Beatles music has never been available to legally download before.

Recent changes in chart rules allowing downloads to count towards the singles chart have prompted speculation that when it is available, the band's music could dominate the UK Top 40.

Depending on the details of tomorrow's news, this could now happen as early as next Sunday (April 8). There is also speculation that the announcement could include information about the European launch of Apple's latest MP3 playing gadget, the iPhone, which is set to make its US debut this summer.

Come back to NME.COM tomorrow for full details of Jobs' speech.

[Peace]

This could have something to do with dropping DRM from EMI's offerings but the kicker is there is an unannounced special musical group or something to that effect.

Could be BOTH DRM and Beatles.

[Cougarcat]

I'm more inclined to believe that this is a Beatles announcement, like the BBC article suggests. "New digital offering" sounds like new music. Plus I don't think apple will go DRM-free for one record group because iTunes would lose some of its consistency and make things too confusing.

[ppc_michael]

I hope they add an option to remove DRM from previously purchased music!!

[Montserrat]

Originally Posted by Cougarcat

I'm more inclined to believe that this is a Beatles announcement, like the BBC article suggests. "New digital offering" sounds like new music. Plus I don't think apple will go DRM-free for one record group because iTunes would lose some of its consistency and make things too confusing.

I'm inclined to agree. Would be nice if it were both, but I bet they just get some band/artist from the EMI roster doing a cover of a Beatles tune or two. Either that or wheel out Paul McCartney (though I heard he was signed to Starbucks' label) to bash a couple of oldies out.

With the DRM issue - they could have little DRM flags next to the tracks - kinda like the "Explicit" ones now. That would also put a bit of pressure on the DRM-insistent labels to change their tune. (No pun intended - honestly)

[QCassidy352]

Originally Posted by ppc_michael

I hope they add an option to remove DRM from previously purchased music!!

me too! Even if it only from this point forward, though, that'll be ok.

[johnee]

let me understand this, without DRM, I can copy the song and play it on any machine?

But the Beatles thing is true.

[Eraserhead]

Originally Posted by Cougarcat

Plus I don't think apple will go DRM-free for one record group because iTunes would lose some of its consistency and make things too confusing.

Exactly, Beatles sounds plausible, there's too much money in making them digitally available. Though DRM free could be done at the same time I doubt it, iTunes have just got the "buy rest of the album" feature.

[Yvan256]

I also hope they either remove the DRM from already purchased music or allow us to download it again without DRM.

However, IMHO this is only one of the three missing things:
- remove DRM (EMI now, other labels later?)
- Apple Lossless (so there is no quality choice between a CD and iTunes Store)
- Worldwide stores (there's absolutely no technical reason for not being able to buy music from other countries)

edit: what's with the user name prefixes?!
edit2: I guess it's an April Fool thing...

[Montserrat]

Originally Posted by ppc_michael

I hope they add an option to remove DRM from previously purchased music!!

That would be sweet. I currently have a playlist of iTunes music that I have to burn and re-import before I can use it in Traktor, so DRM removal from previously purchased songs would make my day.

[Copland]

Hey, that would be awesome!

Out of curiosity, who does EMI have? I mean... what artists' music would be covered in a non-DRM agreement?

[hob]

I've always wondered... what do you have to do / who do you have to be to get invited to these things?

I'd like to go take some photographs...

[applekid]

1 record company down... 3 more to go. And the indies of course.

I assume the DRM for EMI will be de-activated for previous purchases, too. Or maybe, iTunes will scan and kill the DRM on affected songs.

[nagromme]

If removal of DRM is what this announcement is about, don't be too shocked if EMI only goes as far as a small toe in the water. Like some older songs without DRM, or something like that. I'd be amazed if they could be persuaded to go whole-hog.

Still, every step is a good thing.

And if that IS what this is, then Jobs' "thoughts on music" was not all hot air and bluffing, and DRM really IS the idea of the recording industry and not something Apple themselves pushed for. (Surprise, surprise. But some don't seem to know that the industry demanded DRM, and Apple had to comply or there'd be no iTMS.)

(THe Beatles thing almost sounds more likely though. Talking about no DRM is easy, and I know EMI has been doing that, but EMI actually acting on it is another matter.)