<h2 id="post-137"><a href="http://www.freeculturenyu.org/2007/04/02/itunes-drops-drm-for-emi-tracks/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to iTunes Drops DRM for EMI Tracks">iTunes Drops DRM for EMI Tracks</a></h2>
<small>April 2nd, 2007 </small>
<p>Breaking news… This is not an April Fools joke: iTunes will release <strike>significant portions</strike> <b>ALL</b> of EMI's catalog on iTunes without DRM. From the press release:</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2007/press18.htm">EMI Music launches DRM-free superior sound quality downloads across its entire digital repertoire</a></p>
<p>EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli today hosted a press conference at EMI's
headquarters in London where he announced that EMI Music is launching
DRM-free superior quality downloads across its entire digital
repertoire and that Apple's iTunes Store will be the first online music
store to sell EMI's new downloads. Nicoli was joined by Apple CEO Steve
Jobs. The event also featured a musical performance by The Good, The
Bad & The Queen.</p>
<p>On this page you can find an audio webcast of the press conference
which will be available for live streaming at 1pm London time with on
demand archived streaming and MP3 download available shortly
afterwards, the press release and a copy of the presentation slides.</p>
<p><a href="http://w3.cantos.com/07/pjxrobbi-703-5zvx0/interviews.php?task=view">Click here</a> to listen to the audio webcast from today's announcement.<br>
<a href="http://www.emigroup.com/NR/rdonlyres/87F9CEF1-E658-4A0F-B2B8-DB56BCEFC3C1/0/EMI2Aprilpressconferenceslides.pdf">Click here</a> to download the pdf presentation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other juicy tidbits from the press release:</p>
<ul><li>EMI tracks with no DRM (Mp3) will cost $1.29 from iTunes and will also be available in other formats (AAC and WMA).</li><li>All EMI music videos will also be available on the iTunes Store DRM-free with no change in price.
</li><li>iTunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay
$0.99/€0.99/£0.79 for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still
applied.</li><li>Complete albums from EMI Music artists purchased on the iTunes
Store will automatically be sold at the higher sound quality and
DRM-free, with no change in the price.</li><li>Entire catalog will be available in May</li><li>Steve Jobs: "We estimate that well over half of iTunes tracks will be DRM free by the end of the year."</li></ul>
<p>Congratulations to all those who showed up at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fcb/sets/1229792/">our</a> <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Ffcb%2Fsets%2F1485493%2F&ei=vvUQRpCgHIeGgATN6en5Ag&usg=__gMTaHZ04ZUP3OL_PavGB0KnEKX8=&sig2=Apbc-qfqhGCqGs8PF2BieA">
DRM</a> <a href="http://www.freeculturenyu.org/2006/09/30/free-culture-nyu-protests-drm-at-the-apple-store-midtown/">protests</a>! Your voices have been heard!<br>
<br>
<a href="http://digg.com/apple/iTunes_Drops_DRM_for_EMI_Tracks/">Digg this story.</a></p><p><br></p>Fred Benenson,<br>President, Free Culture @ NYU<br><br>-- <br>The content of this email message is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
2.5 License, Some Rights Reserved.<br><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/</a>