Universal To Go DRM Free

Following the lead of EMI, Universal Music Group has decided to sell a good part of its catalogue online without the usual copyright protection. The experiment will run for at least a few months.

 

Universal would offer the digital right management (DRM) free music through a number of sires, including Real Networks and the young service from Amazon.com, as well as artists’ own web sites.

 

But one place you won’t find it is Apple’s iTunes, although that’s the leading download service. EMI has a deal to sell DRM-free music with a higher audio quality via iTunes Plus, but at $1.29 a track instead of the usual 99 cents for those with copy protection.

 

The proprietary DRM normally used by iTunes only works with iPods and the iTunes application, which means DRM-protected music sold by competing services isn't playable on the iPod. Similarly, iPods don't support non-Apple DRM technology. DRM-free tracks like those sold by EMI (and now Universal) will operate on almost all music players and devices, including iPods.

 

If Universal decides to make the experiment permanent, and this toe in the waters is seen as a chance to gauge both consumer demand and how the move affects online music piracy, then it will increase the pressure on labels – and on Apple. Only last month Universal told Apple it would not sign a new long-term contract to sell music through iTunes.