Apple have begun selling songs on iTunes free from copy protection, it was announced on Wednesday.
Thousands of tunes from the EMI stable are now available for purchase without the digital rights management (DRM) software which prevents songs both from being copied and played on non-iPod devices. It also means that tunes can be transferred easily from one computer to another.The DRM-free tracks - known as iTunes Plus - will cost 30-cents more at $1.29 (US) each, but the companies promise that the sound quality will be superior to the standard 99-cent tracks already offered. It was also announced that customers can upgrade their previously purchased tracks by paying the 30-cent difference.
EMI were the first of the 'big four' record labels to respond to consumer demand for more flexibility and better sound quality in digital music. Artists whose music was released in the initial DRM-free batch included Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Joss Stone, Pink Floyd, John Coltrane and Paul McCartney.
The sound files remain in the AAC format, and are 256k in size, double the size of the standard files. Apple claim that the audio quality will be "virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings".
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "We expect more than half of the songs on iTunes will be offered in iTunes Plus versions by the end of this year."
Industry analyst Susan Kevorkian told the AAP news agency that record companies must embrace DRM-free downloads in order to combat the growing decline in CD sales.
"They absolutely have to reach the Internet to drive music sales, and part of that is to remove the hurdle that comes with the lack of interoperability," Kevorkian said.
