EMI unlikely to change DRM plans
p2pnet.net news:- One of the principal questions to arise following the revelation that Big 4 record label EMI is being bought by private European company Terra Firma was: will the EMI/Apple/Amazon non-DRM deals go through?
Terra Firma is paying $6.4 billion for EMI, and preceding the news were announcements that Apple and Amazon were to start marketing digital music downloads sans DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) consumer control software.
Last month Apple and EMI said a “significant portion” of EMI’s catalogue of DRM-free music would be sold through iTunes —- at a price. Instead of the usual $1 a pop, sanitised iTunes downloads, which punters would be able to play on any device, not merely on iPods, would cost $1.30.
Then last week Amazon said it, too, was to start selling to start selling DRM-free downloads supplied by EMI.
It’s unlikely EMI’s changing ownership will affect the decision to offer DRM-free tracks via the iTunes Store, says DigitalArts.
“EMI made its decision to side-step DRM in part to demonstrate its forward-thinking strategy, so potential purchasers would see greater value in the company,” the story has Aram Sinnreich, founder and managing partner of Radar Research, stating. “They can’t renege on the deals very easily without the value of the company plummeting.”
There’s no mention of whether or not the deal will affect the Amazon arrangement, or any other deals which may be in the offing but which have not yet been announced.
Meanwhile, none of the other members of the Big 4 music cartel, Warner Music, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, have said anything about releasing their catalogues without DRM. But if EMI goes ahead with its plans to do so, the chances of them sitting idly by while EMI cashes in are zip to zero.
Also See:
significant portion – Apple, EMI, DRM deal, April 2, 2007
DRM-free downloads – Amazon downloads: DRM-free, May 17, 2007
DigitalArts – EMI sale may not affect DRM-free music, May 24, 2007
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