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Apple wins over EMI on downloads

SIMON AVERY

TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Latest comment posted at 11:45 PM EDT 02/04/07

Strikes deal to sell label's music without protective software — but still no Beatles ...Read the full article

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  1. Johnny Red from Canada writes: It's about time they realized all their BS restrictions are hurting them more than helping them.

    I tried to convert a Gorillaz CD to mp3 so I could listen to it on my mp3 player and it didn't work because it had this rights management crap on it. And since you can't return an opened CD, I threw it out my window.

    They burned me once, it won't happen again.
  2. Ian Kirkland from Toronto, Canada writes: Hey, G
  3. homo sapiens sapiens alba from Canada writes: smart move.. ppl just downloaded copies of their tunes without drm anyways.
  4. Adebisi TheGamer from Canada writes: Why the higher price for non-DRM restricted music? And why does this only apply to singles and not to albums? Are we once again paying up front for the costs of pirating even if we have no plans to use our purchase to pirate? (Ah la blank CD tariffs) Once again the honest purchaser is treated like the criminal, while the criminals continue to enjoy freebies. When Steve Jobs first asked music execs to drop DRM, I thought he was sincere. But now I see it as a blatant cash grab. Sure, dropping DRM, in his mind, was always about increasing profits, but to charge extra to remove something that never should have been there in the first place? Give me a break!!
  5. Adebisi TheGamer from Canada writes: And to Johnny.... my standard music ripper has never had a problem with copy protected CDs. Infact, the number one arguement against DRM on digital downloads is that DRM does not appear on CDs. I guess you are the only person to have a DRM protected CD.

    Most likely your ripper software noticed the "copyright" on the CD and just wouldn't let you rip it. You should try other programs.
  6. E C from Canada writes: Will they replace the few corrupted copy-controlled cd's I have now. A copy control cd recall?
  7. Johnny Red from Canada writes: You hit the nail on the head, Adebisi. The whole music industry is running around cutting holes in people's pockets and holding an ipod shaped coffer underneath to catch every penny that falls.

    I'm gonna have to resort back to taping songs off the radio.
  8. Thomas Chow from Toronto, Canada writes: Adebesi, Johnny is definitely not the only one to have DRM on a CD. Remember the big fiasco over Sony installing rootkits through their music CDs? That was ostensibly to add DRM to their music CDs. And they definitely faced a huge class action lawsuit over it and lost.
  9. Mike H from Grande Prairie, AB, Canada writes: Adebisi TheGamer from Canada writes: Why the higher price for non-DRM restricted music? And why does this only apply to singles and not to albums?

    Adebisi, I'm not positive, but I think whoever wrote the article didn't articulate it very well. I think the premium is paid for the songs with the higher sound quality. I could be wrong though. It isn't clearly stated either way you look at it. Poor writing in my opinion.
  10. Mister Fartleberry from Toronto, Canada writes: I can't get too excited about re-buying 40 year old material (again) for use on my computer. I believe it still accepts CD ROMs. The movie and sound industries seem to look to constantly reinvent formats in order to regenerate sales.
  11. Rob Rowat from Ottawa, Canada writes: For those of you who have vinyl and are despairing of having to re-purchase the music to get a CD version, there are all kinds of digitzers that convert the analog signal from vinyl into a digital signal that can be stored on your computer. This can then be burned to CD or copied to your MP3 player or iPod. The one I have is simple to use and produces high-quality CDs.
  12. Jim R from Toronto, Canada writes: The extra 30 cents provides 256 kbps AAC tracks instead of 128 kbps AAC. I'd bet 25 cents of that goes directly to EMI. As for the reason that albums will be avaialble at 256 k without a price increase, its to encourage buying of multiple songs. This is no different from the pricing of 45s and 33s in the days of vinyl. The availability of non-DRM'ed music removes the criticism that iTunes was tied to the iPod (just like other sites were tied to other specific players such as PlaysforSure and Zune) and, simultaneously allows people a choice. Presumably, there is an additional bandwidth cost to Apple compared to the DRM'd music and since the album price stays the same, its effectively a small price cut.

    The record companies, of course, will have their cake and eat it (in higher income for the DRM-free tunes) but this is a step forward. Let's see how long it takes Sony etc. to join in.....
  13. Adebisi TheGamer from Canada writes: I'd rather pay the 99c for the non-DRM 128k version since I doubt I could hear the difference on any equipment I currently own, or anything I can likely buy. I would love to give anyone that claims they can hear the difference, the "pepsi challenge" on that. If this price increase has nothing to do with DRM removal and charging legit users to make up for the loss to pirates, then why is it tied and unseverable to the higher quality files?

    And yes, I did forget about the root kit fiasco, but it does not make my point invalid since such strategies are no longer used. I have yet to encounter a CD I could not RIP to my MP3 player with freely available software (or even the software that actually shipped with my cheapo MP3 player). The same is not true with true DRM.
  14. Jeff C from Calgary, Canada writes: I too never had a problem using software to convert CDs into MP3s. Course it wasn't freeware (but only cost $35 and was well worth it).

    At the same time as getting rid of DRMs and providing more than one music quality option is quite good, isn't Jobs somewhat hypocritical by linking iTunes music to Apple hardware? I have an iPod and most of the music comes from my CD library, but I've never tried to burn any of the bought songs to CD using iTunes or my other programs. Does anyone know if this works or not?
  15. Tom Malcolmson from Toronto, Canada writes: What a rip off !!

    For quite a while people (even the New York Times) have been complaining that Apple was selling music at higher prices and lower sound quality then their online competitors. The response was always that 128Kbps was good enough, while the truth was that their customers were locked-in so they could get away with it.

    Now they have admitted that people might want better sound quality (ie. if you want to play it on a stereo) and they are charging people extra to 'upgrade' from the low quality version.

    This is classic Apple! In a few years they will probably sell you a lossless or 5-track version for another buck.
  16. doctor business from vancouver, Canada writes: Dinosaurs trying to stay relevant. The news media would write a whole newspaper with nothing but the words "iPod" and "Podcast" repeated 8 million times and have nothing else printed there - not even punctuation. I still wouldn't buy it or think of it as modern. The new world is going to be open source with people sharing for free because that is what the internet was invented to do and that is what most of us are doing with it. The idiots of Capitalism have met their match and can no longer sustain the myth that competition beats cooperation. That absurd conjecture could only be sustained when people were isolated. Now we are connected. Stay tuned - the fight it not won. There is a lot of pressure to keep us isolated or make us isolated in new ways.
  17. M Haman from Vancouver, Canada writes: eMusic sells DRM free mp3 songs, usually for about 30 cents each. iTunes has more music available but for a much higher price. So, I will continue buying as much as possible from eMusic, and any extras or special music from iTunes.

    As a comparison, on my eMusic plan I get 40 songs per month for $10US. iTunes lets you buy an album for that, typically about 10 songs. So, iTunes has a fair way to go before they have finished sharpening the old pencil.

    But, this is a start.
  18. Anti Elvis from Calgary, AB,, Canada writes: Um.......it's pretty easy

    Buy a single CD-RW, burn your iTunes to the disk, then use EAC to rip the songs to MP3's.

    The real problem is the PRICE of music. I'd buy alot more if it was 25 cents a song.
  19. Stephen L from Toronto, Canada writes: Re: Johnny Red

    "I tried to convert a Gorillaz CD to mp3 so I could listen to it on my mp3 player and it didn't work because it had this rights management crap on it. And since you can't return an opened CD, I threw it out my window."

    Are you talking about the Gorillaz's latest album Demon Days? B/c I was able to rip the CD without any problems. when I put it into my burner the first thing I get is WMP prompting me to rip the CD. Don't understand why you can rip it.

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