iTunes DRM-Free and Paul McCartney This Week?

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At the beginning of April, Apple and EMI announced that they would be offering DRM-Free music files on the iTunes store beginning in May. With May wrapping up this Thursday, their self-imposed timeframe is quickly approaching.

PaidContent.org has confirmation from EMI that this original plan remains on schedule.
Asked for a progress update on delivery of its new, DRM-less repertoire, which EMI slated for a May release when it announced last month that Apple would get the line-up first, the EMI spokesperson confirmed that this development was also on course to make good on that schedule.
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MacBidouille's sources also confirm that the launch is coming this week.

PaidContent also reveals that Paul McCartney's catalog which was announced to appear on iTunes has been held up by "an exclusive offering" that will be released with the music in iTunes. McCartney's music has already appeared on competing services (Napster, Rhapsody, Urge and Zune Marketplace).
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2007/05/27/itunes-drm-free-and-paul-mccartney-this-week/
It sounds like good news, even if i'm not going to be in a rush to download Macca's music. I hope EMI are going to be successful in their push for DRM-free music, and therefore others should follow. Or maybe they're just a 'brand on the run'...sorry :eek:
 
I don't honestly know how much EMI music I have, but I do plan to upgrade all of it to DRM-free.
 
The new higher-quality DRM-free albums will (unlike singles) cost no more than the old ones cost.

So I'm curious to see what the upgrade cost will be, per-album, or whether it will simply be .30 per song. (Which would mean $3-$4 to upgrade a whole album.)

I'll upgrade my favorite artists, but not everything.

Note regarding albums you own only part of: depending on how albums can be upgraded (if at all), it may be economical to Complete Album (buy your missing songs) first and then upgrade the whole album, rather than just upgrading the singles you have.

We'll know soon...
 
strangely enough i haven't found any artist so far, with single songs going for more than $ .99

at least that's the current status.

have they set the price for DRM-free music down to $ .99 already?

oh and something else that i just thought of:
does iTMS offer DRM-free music outside of the US/Canada aswell, or are we going to wait seemably "for ever" for that luxury - just like TV Series and Movies - here in Europe?
 
mirffy said:
does iTMS offer DRM-free music outside of the US/Canada aswell, or are we going to wait seemably "for ever" for that luxury - just like TV Series and Movies - here in Europe?
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DRM-free music is rolling out worldwide at the sametime to my knowledge. Remember the announcement actually took place in London for this, I'm positive it'll happen in Europe at sametime as the US.
 
now here is wondering if iTunes will overwrite the old file in my current folder structure or download it all again in to the iTunes structure. :rolleyes:
 
EMI et al?

It's quite a while since EMI and Apple announced new DRM-free music --more than enough to re-encode AAC files. In fact, more than enough for Apple to secure similar deals with the "other" labels.

I suspect that in order to make it all marketable, Apple may have held on to get the other labels on board. Apple's pragmatism makes me think they have something up their sleeve.

This week I expect a new iTunes update with full built-in lyrics download support, along with the new DRM-free lineup. Who knows, maybe there will also be a watermarking mechanism for DRM-free files to deter piracy.:rolleyes:
 
ChuckG said:
I suspect that in order to make it all marketable, Apple may have held on to get the other labels on board. Apple's pragmatism makes me think they have something up their sleeve.
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I'd be very happy if you're right - but I think you're wrong. Re-encoding the music isn't the time-eater in this transition; re-writing parts of ITMS and the back-end server management is probably what's taken so long.
 
Eraserhead said:
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the Powerbook G5 Beatles as the "exclusive".
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I wondered the same thing.

Apple Computer and Apple Corps settled their mark infringement dispute in February, and then EMI and Apple Corps settled their royalties dispute in April, so I'm thinking (maybe) Tuesday if finally the day iTunes will bring out the Beatles catalog.

Throw in "forty years ago today" of Sgt. Pepper coming later next week and Tuesday is starting to look like a pretty good bet.

Here's hoping the WWDC soundtrack is going to have a few Beatles songs.
 
mduser63 said:
I don't honestly know how much EMI music I have, but I do plan to upgrade all of it to DRM-free.
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me too as I only have about 25 ITMS bought tracks...:) If they can bring the higher quality to more music I will become a regular buyer.
 
Considering there is only one week left in May, and Apple said that DRM-free music would be released during May, this "rumor" is hardly a surprise.
 
This will be a great first step. I look forward to the day when the other record companies fall in line.

It will be interesting to see if eMusic starts selling non-DRM tracks from EMI.
 
Should we upgrade our EMI library now?

I'm not sure that the timing is good. If we upgrade now we'll have to pay 0.30$ per song. In a year or 2 apple will most likely offer even better quality and we will have to pay again. I might be wrong but apple and labels will have to find a way to make more money every year. I'll wait a bit!
 
With the new "premium" tracks, are we to see a new iTunes (7.2?) this week also? and with the iPhone coming so shortly would you think they'd just put it in now?
 
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