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Steve Jobs and EMI Press Conference - No More DRM?

RichP said:
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.
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There could be a problem, though. I will be surprised if the Beatles sell very well, with or without DRM - the real fans already have their music, and a LOT of younger folks don't even know who they are (seriously). If the Beatles become the test case for DRM-free music, I can see the music companies saying "See, we did exactly what Steve Jobs asked for... and we're not getting anything out of it! Sales are still low. BTW we're suing an 11-year-old autistic child for copyright infringement this week."
 
Mgkwho said:
http://digg.com/apple/Steve_Jobs_and_EMI_Press_Conference_on_Monday

-=|Mgkwho
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According to the article on Digg:

"Apple CEO Steve Jobs will appear at a joint EMI and Apple press conference on Monday 2 April at 1pm. Jobs will join EMI CEO Eric Nicoli at the event, which takes place at EMI's London headquarters, according to invitations from the music company distributed to journalists on the afternoon of Sunday 1 April."

It may be an April Fool from EMI and/or Apple...

Although I hope it is real (mainly about the DRM thing...)
 
Ghibli said:
According to the article on Digg:

"Apple CEO Steve Jobs will appear at a joint EMI and Apple press conference on Monday 2 April at 1pm. Jobs will join EMI CEO Eric Nicoli at the event, which takes place at EMI's London headquarters, according to invitations from the music company distributed to journalists on the afternoon of Sunday 1 April."

It may be an April Fool from EMI and/or Apple...

Although I hope it is real (mainly about the DRM thing...)
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From the CNET link I posted :

"UPDATE: An EMI spokesman confirmed that this is not a mean April Fool's Day prank, but declined to comment on whether the Beatles have anything to do with it."
 
Ghibli said:
According to the article on Digg:

"Apple CEO Steve Jobs will appear at a joint EMI and Apple press conference on Monday 2 April at 1pm. Jobs will join EMI CEO Eric Nicoli at the event, which takes place at EMI's London headquarters, according to invitations from the music company distributed to journalists on the afternoon of Sunday 1 April."

It may be an April Fool from EMI and/or Apple...

Although I hope it is real (mainly about the DRM thing...)
Click to expand...

I don't think it's an April Fool joke of one companies. But, isn't it a bit late to send out inventations? Escpecially on a sunday?
 
It's the Beatles and it's nothing to do with DRM at all!

I know DRM isn't popular but it got the industry into the download market and that has to be a good thing.
 
Don't get your hopes up too much on the DRM front..

If The Beatles are going to release to iTunes any time soon- it's probably in the next couple of weeks- they marked Sgt. Peppers' 20th anniversary with the CD release, got huge exposure (It was twenty years ago today... etc) and sold tons of CDs. That was twenty years ago on June 1st. Not rocket science to pull that off a second time. (OK, we could split hairs 'cause it'll have been forty years ago...)

There are other albums that came before Peppers' which will probably come in the weeks ahead. They aren't likely to drop them all at once.

DRM as well as the Beatles? It's unlikely as Apple Corps are very conservative (very late to the game with both CD and downloads) and protective of their property- EMI have certainly made anti-DRM noises recently but Apple Corps singing the same song would be a big surprise. Hope I'm wrong.

And in case anyone thinks this isn't a big deal- go and check what the best selling CD of the decade to date is...
 
If DRM was dropped this would be huge news for the industry, and I'd have to give props to steve jobs. Hopefully the other labels would follow.

What would the impact on iTunes be? It might encourage more users if it is a iTunes only deal- but its hard to imagine that kind of exclusivity.

I hope they next thing they drop is the price!
 
I could care less about the Beatles on iTunes, I already have their music.

However DRM free music I would be interested in, if it cost the same.
 
I too have stopped buying from the itunes store--after spending about $10,000.

iTunes music was great for me--convienent, purchase by the song or by the album, etc--when it was just an iPod world.

But now that digital music is getting played through home theaters, good headphones, good car speaks, the quality of iTunes music is just not acceptible. Far from it, in fact.

Plus, DRM is a joke which is just no longer funny. (Although I know this is not Apple's fault)

My hope for Monday is Jobs announces the ability to download music in AppleLossless, and the ability FOR CHEAP to upgrade existing purchases to the better quality.

That move, especially the ability to upgrade current purchases for free or for very, very cheap, would make me start purchasing again.

Until, then, I am back to being an Amazon and Netflix guy, which is a shame since I would rather buy from Apple and would prefer to download my content.
 
ppc_michael said:
I hope they add an option to remove DRM from previously purchased music!!
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Lets see ......
1) Hell has freezed over,
2) Pigs already fly

ummmm

When politicians speak the truth?
When rich and poor get the same justice in court?

Nah

When politicians speak the truth in frozen hell about the pigs that fly.

Yea, that is.
 
I was under the impression EMI was leading the way to DRM free music, not being "persuaded" into it. iTunes and Steve may have some sort of karmic preference for non-DRM, but as a matter of commerce, iTunes will have to offer DRM for those publishers who insist on it, and non-DRM for those that prefer that. I suspect as a nudge, Apple will offer "superior" formats only in non-DRM format. This seems to be heading toward streaming and signaling to mass-quantities of "approved" client boxes with far less "decryption" of the signal itself, lowering the cost and compute overhead of the client device.

I am glad this was tagged not 4-1.

But I am a bit scared to see how my name gets munged. I wonder if the avatar will be set to crash or something.

Rocketman (real name for reference)
 
Seems more likely to be Beatles than anything else.. Ringo will sing Yellow Submarine..:)
 
Stella said:
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.
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Lets have DRM free music and bring the RIAA on charges under RICO. Now that would be sweet.
 
EMI Press Conference

I think people are getting carried away. I'm sure the announcement is only about The Beatles being on iTunes. If EMI make their music DRM-free, people should think of that as a bonus. As for lossless, I VERY much doubt that will happen.

I expect a lot of negatives for the topic which tells us what the announcement is about.
 
The DRM doesn't really bother me too much. I'm very much a mac user, I have a couple of iPods, and about 6 macs I use regularly, and it hasn't proved to be too much of a problem.

This is a sincere question: What's the angle for Apple dropping DRM? Is it to open up to other music players other than the iPod, or is it to try and blaze a trail for other companies to drop their DRMs so we all live a little more "open source" style?

Isn't it more likely that we'll see a resurgence of Napster-style music sharing if DRMs are dropped? I mean it's not exactly difficult to burn a CD of DRM'd content and re-rip it to remove the DRM, but if the files are bought open again I can only imagine we'll see an increase in file sharing again.

I don't really have a strong opinion either way, just wondered what other people's take on it was...
 
No No...You got it all wrong...

It's the buyout!!!. Apple are buying EMI..

They are the perfect complementary business partner if Apple are to become the 'new Sony'. Apple will own The Beatles, just as they have always owned The Beatles. Yes, they will be available exlusively on iTunes - forever!

This is also why Warner made a 'last ditch attempt to buy just recently' and why EMI rejected it - the deal was already 'in the bag'...

You will now see that the Apple Computer Inc becoming Apple Inc makes complete and perfect sense.

;)

(phhew imagine what would happen to Apple shares on Monday if this were true!)

Still The Beatles catalog is still mighty impressive!.
 
To drop DRM for one record label, would Apple have to change iTunes or just deliver certain downloads as m4a's instead of m4p's?

I suspect that it would break some Smart Folders and AppleScripts that identify purchased music by looking for Protected AACs.
 
Hmm... I wonder what this is about? it would need to be good to warrant an appearance by Steve Jobs.
 
BobbyDigital said:
Hmm... I wonder what this is about? it would need to be good to warrant an appearance by Steve Jobs.
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I would say a tie up involving Apple and the greatest rock group of all time would be 'good enough' for Steve...you know there is no greater prize...
 
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