Sony BMG will reportedly offer DRM-free music
By Evan Blass 
posted January 4th 2008 10:23AM
posted January 4th 2008 10:23AM
In a move that could finally sound the death knoll for the universally-hated digital leech known as DRM, Sony BMG Music will reportedly become the last of the top four major labels to offer unprotected tracks for download. Citing people familiar with the arrangement, BusinessWeek.com reports that full details of the label's plan will be released "in the coming weeks," although at least part of its catalog will supposedly be available without DRM sometime this quarter. If this does indeed pan out, Sony would follow EMI, Vivendi Universal, and Warner in moving towards a much more consumer-friendly music distribution model.[Thanks, Mack S.]
So how come it's still the EMI catalog that's the only one available on iTunes Plus ?
Yeah, I wonder what their excuse will be for forcing iTunes to keep selling DRM'd versions, given that Steve Jobs went on the record nearly a year ago calling for the end of DRM.
Someone else asked why I care. Because buying @ iTunes is better than buying @ Amazon's MP3 store. If I find a new band in iTunes, I can easily see what their most popular songs are. if I find a song covered by several different people, I can easily see which is the most popular one (and probably the one I want).
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Amazon MP3 store is there, but this idea that they will force iTunes to use DRM while letting Amazon sell DRM free is the exact same anti-competition they falsely accused Apple of for years.
It's the ongoing hypocrisy that bothers me.
And don't forget, as soon as you are all used to Amazon.com MP3s, the prices WILL start to increase. I give it less than 6 months. That's what they really want, variable pricing. So enjoy the $0.88 while you can, but don't expect it to stick around for new and good stuff.
I still believe that this piece from 2005 is as true as ever to explain WHY the record industry wants variable pricing
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2005/11/18.html