No drm and variable prices on iTunes music, that’s what Apple had said in one of their press releases. Find the complete details below.
Apple has finally made an agreement with all the prominent music labels regarding the DRM issues.From now onwards,all of the four major music labels-EMI,Sony Music Entertainment,UMG and Warner Music Group will start selling music through iTunes without D.R.M. software which used to constraint digital files from getting copied(EMI was doing it already).
Dumping D.R.M. was Apple’s long time wish but three of the four biggest music labels were in constant disagreement on compromising upon anti-copying restrictions.But this January,at Macworld 09,this agreement went official.This DRM exclusion will surely bring more sales to iTunes as customers can now copy the music downloaded from iTunes with no hesitation.
But the compromise isn’t one-sided at all. Apple has also compromised on its part,agreeing to variable prices for various songs,as against its standard ’99 cents per song’ methodology for selling any music(old or latest).April onwards,the majority of songs(older tracks) will be sold at 69 cents while the most popular and newest songs will come
at $1.29.Others will remain at 99 cents only.
By implementing variable pricing strategy,Music labels are expecting massive sales from the huge old music catalogue and juicing out more bucks out of the latest hits. This step looks a smarter one for generating more revenues for the music labels in the current dreadening economy.
Although,keynote at Macworld 09 wasn’t as fascinating as it used to be but the official announcement of these two major strategic agreements will certainly bring more profits,to both Apple as well as music labels.It has also confirmed the fact that the music industry is now ready for any kind of change that brings them more money.
Any guesses for the next big announcement that will completely change the way music labels and online sellers operate ?
‘Advertisement based revenue model’ for any music destination online,similar to what Myspace Music has been doing for months now(clubbed with download through Amazon if one wants).The music industry is finding it hard to survive on the age old methods of making money out of their music and they would have to surrender in front of newer revenue models.Myspace Music appears a stepping stone in this ‘big change’.
