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Steve Jobs and EMI Press Conference - No More DRM?

applekid said:
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.
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I think most the indies are pretty keen on DRM-free, so if this is a DRM announcement, I wouldn't be surprised if they were in the first wave
 
If Apple and EMI really do announce that they're removing DRM from their music on the iTunes Music Store it would send shockwaves throughout their industries - music, movies and tech.

But it's probably going to be an announcement regarding The Beatles.
 
Once one music company goes non DRM and reaps the benefit then this will start a bandwagon of others coming on board with dropping DRM.

Non DRM benefits the customer as a whole - no restrictions on where music can be played or on what device. Non DRM = more sales = happy music industry = digital music maturing.

If EMI are indeed dropping DRM then they should be congratulated.

However, Indy companies don't want DRM and Apple should be dropping DRM on these now, instead of waiting for major music companies.

SJ talk on DRM is easy - action is more difficult and what should be judged upon.
 
Everyone mentioning the Apple lossless thing got me thinking... People have long stated that it was surely in Apples own interest to keep DRM because it locks you into the iPod, but if they removed DRM but made songs Apple lossless at the same time wouldn't that still keep you locked into the iPod?
 
belovedmonster said:
Everyone mentioning the Apple lossless thing got me thinking... People have long stated that it was surely in Apples own interest to keep DRM because it locks you into the iPod, but if they removed DRM but made songs Apple lossless at the same time wouldn't that still keep you locked into the iPod?
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But you could easily re-encode from lossless without DRM to whatever you wanted...
 
belovedmonster said:
Everyone mentioning the Apple lossless thing got me thinking... People have long stated that it was surely in Apples own interest to keep DRM because it locks you into the iPod, but if they removed DRM but made songs Apple lossless at the same time wouldn't that still keep you locked into the iPod?
Click to expand...

Consumer lock in is very rarely a good thing and the iPod lock in is negative too.
 
My vote:

We see the START of DRM-Free music WITH the Beatles Catalog. Face it, Beatles music is part of our global (western anyway) culture, and using the Beatles catalog as a starting point/testing the waters for DRM-free would be pretty low risk.
 
Thanks for adding the "(Note: This story is not an April Fools joke.)"! Skepticism is a bit high today.

I'm going with the Beatles announcement. I'd forgotten about it when predicting Apple's releases for the next few months!

It feels out of place, though, being on a Monday. :p

-=|Mgkwho
 
Wow, Steve really has power in the music industry. Germany instantly dropped copy protection on Audio CDs after Steve's note on DRM. No more CDs that will play at home, but not in your car stereo because it's not compatible with the CD's copy protection.

EDIT: Sweet. I'm "wicked" now. Wickeeed! :)
 
If this is indeed true I hope those of us who have purchased iTunes music will either be able to re-download without the DRM OR Apple should release a utility that removes it from songs already purchased.
 
Imagine if EMI and all the indie bands stopped using DRM. The other record companies would almost certainly have to follow. Otherwise they would likely have some angry consumers! I hope this is indeed the announcement. I would definitely buy more music off of iTunes.
 
That would be awesome to have them announce the Beatles and have Paul and Ringo play as a special live guest. They said a live performance would occur so who knows...
 
Yvan256 said:
- Worldwide stores (there's absolutely no technical reason for not being able to buy music from other countries)
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There are excellent reasons not to have worldwide open sales -- the rights to one song in different countries are often owned by different entities -- and cannot be licensed or sold on a worldwide basis by one entity.

It would be like if you had paid for and established a Mercedes-Benz dealership in your town, and then Mercedes announces on April 2 that any Hyundai and Ford dealer can also sell new Mercedes and parts and do factory service.
 
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