The online world is buzzing with news of the EMI-Apple press annoucement this morning that iTunes will now offer DRM free music with a higher quality at a slightly higher price ($1.29). This is great news, but the fact that the files are still going to be in AAC format still a deal breaker for some as not all players support AAC. Those of you who are Zune owners can now use songs from iTunes though since it has support for AAC. (thanks Brandon for that info)
I was curious if Microsoft might be following suite with its Zune Marketplace so I shot off a couple of emails and of ZuneInsider quickly got back to me with the following:
"Consumers have made it clear that having unprotected MP3 downloads are important to them so Zune has been moving in that direction. We strongly believe in the importance of partnership so as the labels move in this direction, we’ll start offering their unprotected content to consumers."
It sure sounds like Microsoft is ready to go DRM free too, which is great news for all you Zune owners. The only question we have is how long till we see an EMI-Microsoft annoucement.
UPDATE: I was able to get a little more info from Microsoft's PR firm...
“Consumers have indicated this is important to them so Zune has been working with a variety of partners to head in this direction. This is a time of transition for the music industry and Microsoft is committed to striking a balance between delivering the best consumer experience while still protecting the rights of the content owners.”
--Microsoft spokesperson
Posted
Apr 02 2007, 10:53 AM
by
Josh Phillips
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