August 14, 2007
Universal to Test Sales of DRM-Free Music
Universal Music Group is the latest major music label to offer music downloads without copy protection. PC World reports.
"As part of a six-month test to end in January, UMG, a subsidiary of French conglomerate Vivendi Universal SA, will sell a wide range of albums and songs from artists such as 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas and Sting-- in MP3 format, without DRM (digital rights management) copy protection, the music company confirmed Friday.
In May, rival EMI Group PLC began selling a selection of its music DRM-free through outlets including Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store-- the first company to sell unprotected music that way. Universal, though, does not plan to sell its DRM-free tracks through iTunes. This follows its announcement at the start of July that it will not automatically offer all its music for Apple to sell through iTunes.
DRM technologies are designed to combat piracy, and control the terms on which content downloaded from the Internet can be copied or transferred to other devices. But some industry critics have argued that DRM is complex to implement, can unfairly prevent people from playing music or videos they purchase on any device they want and is downright unpopular with music fans.
As part of its six-month DRM-free test, UMG will offer content in the MP3 format through the Web sites of a number of retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., as well as artist and label-branded Web sites, such as ryan-adams.com and islandrecords.com. Most of the music will be available to these retailers at standard wholesale prices."
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