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Apple iTunes goes all DRM free, with three price tiers

By | January 6, 2009, 10:33am PST

Summary: Apple announced today that effective immediately 8 million songs on iTunes would be DRM free, and that by the end of the quarter all 10 million songs on the popular music site would be DRM free. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, otherwise known as copy protection. DRM-free music can be shared between all your [...]

Apple announced today that effective immediately 8 million songs on iTunes would be DRM free, and that by the end of the quarter all 10 million songs on the popular music site would be DRM free. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, otherwise known as copy protection. DRM-free music can be shared between all your devices without complicated registration and proprietary software.

In addition, iTunes songs will no longer cost a flat $0.99. There will be three tiers: $0.69, $0.99, and $1.29 starting on April 1st. You can expect to see older releases at the lower price point, and newer releases at the higher one. The removal of DRM and the flexibility on prices is a compromise worked out between Apple and the music industry.

iPhone users will be happy to note that they can now access the iTunes music store over the 3G network, not just WiFi.  “It’s the same quality you get in the store, right on your phone, no matter where you are, and you can sync back to your computer. That starts today,” said Phil Schiller at today’s MacWorld keynote.

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Topics

Digital-rights Management, Apple Inc., Apple iTunes, Tier, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Digital Media, Digital Music, Security, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Ed Burnette

Ed Burnette is a software industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience as a programmer, author, and speaker. He has written numerous technical articles and books, most recently "Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform" from the Pragmatic Programmers.

Disclosure

Ed Burnette

Ed Burnette is a Manager of Mobile Development at SAS. However the postings on this site are his own and do not represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of his employer.

Biography

Ed Burnette

Ed Burnette has been hooked on computers ever since he laid eyes on a TRS-80 in the local Radio Shack. Since graduating from NC State University he has programmed everything from serial device drivers and debuggers to web servers. After a delightful break working on commercial video games, Ed reluctantly returned to business software. He currently develops enterprise software for Android phones and tablets.

In his copious spare time, Ed writes and speaks about all kinds of technology and software. His most recent books include the Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide from O'Reilly and Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform from the Pragmatic Programmers.

Talkback Most Recent of 42 Talkback(s)

  • So it'll be a net price increase
    seeing as most downloads are of newer songs.

    Not that I mind a fair increase every once and a while. But I wish I had known that before I had purchased some iTune gift cards for Christmas gifts.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Kelly
    6th Jan 2009
  • I agree, i just bought my mother an IPod shuffle and a gift card
    I also bought two other people gift cards. I know they will be buying new stuff, so the bang for buck factor will be decreased significantly.

    On the other hand, my mother most likes oldies, so she might get more mileage.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Been_Done_Before
    6th Jan 2009
  • The pricing doesn't change...
    until April 1st, so you have a few months to purchase music
    at the current price.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    msalzberg
    6th Jan 2009
  • RE: Apple iTunes goes all DRM free, with three price tiers
    Well in terms of the price hike, there will probably also be specials in terms of "buy whole CD for... dollars" or they could be in packages, but the hike is going to be awful mostly because I have a good feeling that it will be for new releases, and when does one want to buy new releases other than when they first come out, pretty rediculous and this is will cause more illegal downloading, ive said my piece, if i am wrong let me know
    ZDNet Gravatar
    TRCIV
    6th Jan 2009
  • Actually, the removal of DRM will likely increase users and reduce piracy.
    I still buy or borrow CDs then rip them because of DRM. Now that ITunes will have higher quality songs with no DRM, i will be less likely to borrow or buy a CD since i can get it instantly from itunes without the fear of it not being portable.

    I had some friends who used an itunes hack to kill the DRM, this should make them happy too.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Been_Done_Before
    6th Jan 2009
  • That's pretty much what Apple figured.
    That's pretty much what Apple figured. When they first started offering DRM free music, they made it public that the vast majority of music in iTunes was not the protected stuff bought from the store. Most of it was either ripped or downloaded.

    I'm 100% legal these days - no downloaded music. But I still preferred to buy CDs and rip them rather than deal with DRM.

    DRM proved that it hindered even legit users needlessly. I want to be able to play my music on any of my devices, be it my CD player or my iPod or my computer or my car's stereo. You just can't do that with DRMed music.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    6th Jan 2009
  • What Apple figured
    is how to charge more money. a track of digital music worth 25 cents at best. 1.29$ is just...well fit with Apple way of doing business: ripping of consumers.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Mectron
    6th Jan 2009
  • I blame the music labels.
    No, Apple seemed perfectly content to have $0.99/song. I think the labels wanted it. I blame them.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    6th Jan 2009
  • Cheese and crackers . . . anyone?
    To go with that whine?

    With all the complaining about the restrictions of *Apple's* DRM, you'd think that they were the only ones employing such technology [Ha, yeah, right! Remember Sony's root kit and MS's Plays-for-Sure debacles?).

    And, you'd think that nobody knows how *easy* it is to bypass it --- legally. I've purchased roughly $100.00 for music from iTS, and all of it was burned to CD (something damn near everybody does, any way, at some point) and subsequently RE-ripped --- DRM free.

    It's never been anything more than a minor nuisance --- to me --- but to read some of these comments [rolling eyes], you'd think that some people are totally ignorant of the means by which they can legally* De-DRM their iTunes Store music.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    brian ansorge
    6th Jan 2009
  • With no loss of quality?
    all of it was burned to CD (something damn near everybody does, any way, at some point) and subsequently RE-ripped --- DRM free.

    No, of course not. I guess it is a good thing that iPods come with such poor headphones. I suspect it was a tactical move by Apple so none of you would notice the poor quality of iTMS lossy content that was burned and re-ripped into another lossy file. I guess it just goes to show that those with poor taste buy from Apple! happy
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NonZealot
    6th Jan 2009
  • My ears vs Your ears
    Any day, buddy. My ears are as sharp as any, including yours, Charlie. Not bragging, just telling you truth that has been verified over and over with instrumentation (including an oscilloscope or two).

    Can I hear the difference between 160 kbs and live? Of course. 160 and 320? Of course.

    And, for all your petulant whining, how about proving you're not an abominably hypocrite (like most MS apologists/shills) and telling us you listen to *nothing* but *vinyl* and, only then, on your very expensive home stereo.

    Oh, that's right: after your knee-jerk, troll-like trash talking of iPods and [all] those who use them, *you* confess you have an iPod or, possibly, a Zune.

    Hypocrite or Bad Taste.

    Take your pick.

    I'm neither. I have had several iPods, and the difference for me between the kbs rate of "lossy" content is not an issue --- again, not because I don't have good ears, but because I *still* enjoy my music.

    And, yes, the earphones that come with iPods are crap. Everyone knows that. Most iPod/Apple users I know are *much* more secure than the *typical* MS shill/apologist/zealot who posts here (whom is usually anything *but* the typical, Joe Sixpack Windows user) and have no problem admitting flaws and/or issues with Apple stuff.

    You could learn something and maybe not get your ******* in a bunch when discussing what many --- much more objective than you who *also* use Windows, primarily --- others seem to discuss less defensively.

    So, you own a Zune? Or an iPod. How do you listen to music --- 90% of the time?

    If quality is your primary/only beef, stick with vinyl and audiophile-quality home stereo equipment.

    And stop whining about DRM; it never really was an issue (unlike WGA, UAC, *and* swiss cheese "security," etc, with Windows) and it certainly is not, now.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    brian ansorge
    7th Jan 2009
  • It's people who borrow CDs and then rip them..
    (ie. steal) that gave us DRM to begin with.

    Thanks, pal.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    msalzberg
    6th Jan 2009
  • RE: Apple iTunes goes all DRM free, with three price tiers
    Who cares? As long as Apple continues to peddle music in the .aac format - drm free or not - it will never be as useful as a ubiquitous MP3 file for maximum flexibility in playing music wherever you want to.

    Can't even play an .aac file in Windows Media player...what year are we living in anyway?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Vocalpoint
    6th Jan 2009
  • Let's count...
    the AAC file format plays in iTunes/Quicktime, JetAudio, Winamp, VLC, GOMplayer, and Nero Showtime, for starters. Even if it doesn't play in WMP, it plays in virtually everything else.

    However, iTunes, Nero Burning ROM, and the open-source BonkEnc can all transcode m4a to MP3 or WAV. Is there some loss in quality? I would presume so, but if you go to a 256kbps or 320kbps MP3 or WAV, it's not terribly noticeable. Besides, Napster, Amazon, and Wal-Mart have been DRM-free for some time now, so if you're one of those audio elitists who feel that transcoding produces unacceptable artifacts, buy from them.

    Joey
    ZDNet Gravatar
    voyager529
    6th Jan 2009
  • *CobraA1 tries it - succeeds!*
    *CobraA1 tries to open an unprotected AAC file with Windows Media Player.*

    *CobraA1 succeeds!*

    Media player threw some warnings at me about it, but I told it to ignore them, and surprise surprise - Windows Media Player can, in fact, play unprotected AAC files. You may need to have the right codecs installed, but it's included in several common video codecs that most people already have.

    In addition, I invite you to go to your local store at the various music players available - a surprising number of them can in fact play unprotected AAC files as well.

    I dunno if you know this - but the AAC format was designed by the same people who designed MP3, and is intended as an eventual replacement of MP3. It's included as part of the MPEG 2 & 4 video formats, so if you can play either of those video formats it's very likely you can play AAC.

    You'd be surprised how common it really is! For the most part, most people simply don't realize they can use it.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    6th Jan 2009
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