Apple Inc has agreed to start selling digital songs from its iTunes store without copy protection software. Currently the majority of music downloaded from Apple’s iTunes store can only be played through an iTunes interface or an iPod. A new agreement with the major record labels (Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner) will end digital rights management (DRM) software currently attached to iTunes music.
Music companies now want more flexibility, and within the next three months all 10million songs on iTunes will be DRM free. Over the last 10 years songs have been 79p ($0.99), currently Apple employs a one-price-fits all strategy, with no subscription fee. This pricing policy has been revised and now will offer a two tier system with songs available for $0.69 and $1.29, with prices varying slightly in the UK. The idea is that songs purchased at the more expensive price will enable the user to play their music on whatever outlet they please, while songs purchased at the lower price may still have restrictions. Initially the restrictive software was implemented to limit Apple’s market share, but that doesn’t seems to have work very efficiently. It remains to be seen whether music already purchased from iTunes would have its DRM stripped.
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