DRM

DRM: The first domino falls

I'm sure you've heard by now: EMI and Apple announce that they will begin selling DRM-free tracks in iTunes!

Recently I was wondering how this would shake out and I was really afraid that the labels would demand a high premium price for non-DRM tracks. Turns out that EMI/Apple are only asking for $.30 more, but you get a higher quality track than the DRMed $.99 version.

Great! From a business perspective it makes sense: There is more freedom and better quality and that translates to value. I'm willing to pay a little more for more value. And the price point makes sense too -- a 30% hike makes sense. I was afraid that we'd be seeing a 100%+ hike which would kill the non-DRM proposition. If that happened, people wouldn't buy and DRM-free tracks would be condemned as a failed experiment.

Thanks Steve Jobs! Thanks EMI!

Now the questions is: Who is next? Will we see the next domino fall soon or will we have to wait for EMI/Apple to post results from Q2 before other labels will be convinced about the financial feasibility of this move?

Posted by Mayhem at April 2, 2007 02:52 PM