DRM-free music: EMI calls the tune and Apple takes the credit

Dangerous times for the record labels

Comment: Having been a big believer in DRM and its necessity, although dismissive of its inflexibility and lack of sophistication, we, Rethink Research, have to interpret the big news of last week that EMI will offer its catalog DRM-free, as at least dangerous and potentially disastrous. But that’s only if it is looked at in the long term. In the short term it might even be beneficial to both EMI and Apple.

This has been dressed up as an Apple iTunes ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú EMI joint announcement, but it is a pure EMI move. We interpreted the recent call by Apple and Steve Jobs, for an end to DRM, as a move to get European law-makers off Apple?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s back, and we still see it as that. We don’t think that Jobs can really want an end to DRM, but EMI might.

Full article: The Register