We mentioned this as a possibility back in February, but it looks like it's actually happening now: EMI Music launches DRM-free superior sound quality downloads across its entire digital repertoire. Coming to iTunes in May for $1.29 per song: Apple Unveils Higher Quality DRM-Free Music on the iTunes Store.
• "DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song."
• "iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song."
• "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."
This is very cool. Will others follow?
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NME reports that the Beatles will be included...at some point:
http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/27479
It's interesting and very cool - DRM drove me to the pirate's life, tho. And I don't know if I'm coming back.
But I think the recording industry is closing the barn door after the horse was stolen. They should've done this right from the start.