EMI-Apple pen deal to sell songs
EMI Group announced yesterday at a Press Conference in London that it will begin selling songs online that are free of copy-protection technology through Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store.
This is a departure from the practices of the rest of the recording industry, and has many music downloaders world-wide excited.
The songs, which will soon be available on Apple’s iTunes, will costs music lovers US$1.29 (30 cents more than the copy-protected version). The premium tunes also will be offered in a higher quality than the 99-cent tracks.
Some analysts suggest that lifting the software restrictions may boost sales of online music, which currently account for around 10 percent of global music sales. I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether this proves to be true.
It has been quite a widely discussed issue that CDs and Music Album sales have been dipping. With the rapid advances in technology, along with the ease and availability of downloading, it was only a matter of time before the recording industries sat up and took notice of the potential of selling their music online.
However, they still had concerns – how were they going to protect their works from copyright infringement through indiscriminate downloading and copying? Along came the development of Digital Rights Management (DRM), a software which can be coded into the music files to prevent copying. Problem solved? Not a chance!
DRMs not only made it difficult to make multiple copies, but also prevented genuine copies and interoperability of players (e.g. a song bought at iTunes can only be played on Apple media). This inevitably led to consumers dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
But of course Apple was constrained. It was something completely out of their control. But not to worry, they’re working on it!
Now with this new move, Apple and EMI have not only succeeded in looking like champions of consumer choice/rights, they can now charge more for it! I think that Apple has done it once again! Pure genius! Time will see them laughing all the way to the bank!
EMI Group announced yesterday at a Press Conference in London that it will begin selling songs online that are free of copy-protection technology through Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store.
This is a departure from the practices of the rest of the recording industry, and has many music downloaders world-wide excited.
The songs, which will soon be available on Apple’s iTunes, will costs music lovers US$1.29 (30 cents more than the copy-protected version). The premium tunes also will be offered in a higher quality than the 99-cent tracks.
Some analysts suggest that lifting the software restrictions may boost sales of online music, which currently account for around 10 percent of global music sales. I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether this proves to be true.
It has been quite a widely discussed issue that CDs and Music Album sales have been dipping. With the rapid advances in technology, along with the ease and availability of downloading, it was only a matter of time before the recording industries sat up and took notice of the potential of selling their music online.
However, they still had concerns – how were they going to protect their works from copyright infringement through indiscriminate downloading and copying? Along came the development of Digital Rights Management (DRM), a software which can be coded into the music files to prevent copying. Problem solved? Not a chance!
DRMs not only made it difficult to make multiple copies, but also prevented genuine copies and interoperability of players (e.g. a song bought at iTunes can only be played on Apple media). This inevitably led to consumers dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
But of course Apple was constrained. It was something completely out of their control. But not to worry, they’re working on it!
Now with this new move, Apple and EMI have not only succeeded in looking like champions of consumer choice/rights, they can now charge more for it! I think that Apple has done it once again! Pure genius! Time will see them laughing all the way to the bank!
posted by Clem | 3:51 PM
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