DRM-FREE music on iTunes for €1.29 a track

Cabaal

Full story here http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/02/1258238

ethernet

Long overdue. I wonder how eMusic and other online stores selling DRM-free music will react. The obvious thing is to criticise Apple for making it more expensive -- the average, uninformed Joe will probably buy the DRM version for less.

Using the exchange rates on XE.com just now, $1.29 is 96c. Anyway, paying over 99c is a small price to pay for the freedom. If only it applied to all songs in the store. Now all Apple needs to do is to secure the Beatles' music for iTunes.

bbbbb

My first reaction is April fools, but apparently not.

I'm guessing an album would go up to 12.90 as well. Can buy the CD for that price or cheaper.

Tom Dunne

I wonder if they will sneak in some form of digital signature to the music files, so that if they end up on the likes of Limewire, they can be traced back to the publisher.

Are they selling them in mp3 format?

Giblet

bbbbb wrote:

My first reaction is April fools, but apparently not.

I'm guessing an album would go up to 12.90 as well. Can buy the CD for that price or cheaper.

I think the album stays the same, even without DRM and higher quality.

ethernet

tom dunne wrote:

I wonder if they will sneak in some form of digital signature to the music files, so that if they end up on the likes of Limewire, they can be traced back to the publisher.

Are they selling them in mp3 format?

I wouldn't be surprised. The record labels are probably demanding something like this to get an idea of the degree of illegal file-sharing of unprotected files before backing down a little on DRM [wishful thinking].

SeanW

Good news, I've always avoided online music sales because of the low-quality tracks and DRM, and avoided CDs after having a very bad experience with an intentionally deformed CD that messed up my DVD drive, then the whole Sony rootkit business which I was fortunate to avoid. I 'steal' music and stuff online these days and I'm not ashamed of it, because so many times in the past when I've paid for stuff, I've been burned by region lockouts, DRM, intentional limitations, deformations, incompatibilities and other problems etc that it's just pointless to try to do the 'right' thing.

If EMI/Apple is serious about treating it's customers with respect, then I will most definately be reappraising my habits.

aidan_walsh

ethernet wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised. The record labels are probably demanding something like this to get an idea of the degree of illegal file-sharing of unprotected files before backing down a little on DRM [wishful thinking].

I would be, tbh. Apple know they would he hung out to dry if they were caught doing something like that after announcing "DRM-free (without digital rights management)", and that would damage their reputation far too much.

Interesting how the press release says "in May" rather than "from May" however, like its a trial run or something.

Ghost Train

heres another itunes story about how they might be breaking eu laws

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=eu-charges-record-compani&chanID=sa003&modsrc=reuters

crap how they charge eu/uk customers so much more per song than us customers

snappieT

tom dunne wrote:

I wonder if they will sneak in some form of digital signature to the music files, so that if they end up on the likes of Limewire, they can be traced back to the publisher.

Are they selling them in mp3 format?

I can't see them NOT putting a unique signature somewhere in the file so it can be tracked back to a particular downloader. So many people will be burned this way.

And, reading the associated Reuters article, they'll be released as 256k AAC, so no mp3 as yet. Of course you could make them mp3, but the transcode would defeat the purpose of the higher quality.

Cabaal

ethernet wrote:

Using the exchange rates on XE.com just now, $1.29 is 96c. Anyway, paying over 99c is a small price to pay for the freedom. If only it applied to all songs in the store. Now all Apple needs to do is to secure the Beatles' music for iTunes.

ah I see you read the article, while it is $1.29 its also 1.29e,
currently they charge 99c euro for DRM tracks...

Archytas

Good to see. I'm getting tired of dealing with the girlfriends itunes issues... but me - I prefer the CD anyway. If someone points out a good song to me or whatever I'll go out and buy the cd. I prefer the hard copy. Dunno why.

oh and what a waste of my 500th post - I really should have posted something special...

Stephen

A step in the right direction but still not enough. Charging more for it and restricting it to AAC when pretty much nothing besides iPod plays AAC is lame.