Deal or no deal: EMI and Apple's DRM-free premium music?
The premium version of EMI-artist Adam Ant will cost you extra.
(Credit: www.cartrouble.nl)The world has been waiting for the Beatles to come to iTunes for a while, but if you were hoping that was the topic of today's press conference between EMI Group and Apple, sorry; there's still no Beatles on iTunes. But in May, EMI's entire music catalog will be available in premium DRM-free form. In case you're wondering, premium means higher quality music files--as well as a 30-cent price hike ($1.29 vs. $.99) per song--for the privilege of downloading music stripped of digital rights management.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs suggested that half of iTunes' music tracks will be available in both DRM-loaded and DRM-free form by the end of 2007. That's a good thing, but 30 cents extra still seems a little steep when you're competing with free pirated music. What do you think?
For a complete report on today's EMI/Apple deal, check out the full news.com story by intrepid craver Caroline McCarthy.
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
But I think it's also a really good sign that EMI is willing to take the chance, as opposed to Warner's proclimation to Give Them DRM or Give Them Death!
Either way it's still normally a better deal to just buy the CD and rip it yourself.