DRM (Digital Rights Management) is dead. With EMI announced that high quality, DRM-free audio format can be downloaded for use across all devices and platforms. Moreover, Apple’s iTunes will become the first online music store to sell EMI’s new DRM-free products within the few weeks. The price tag is announced at $1.29/€1.29/£0.99 per song and Apple’s iTunes will make individual AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format tracks available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, i.e. at 256 kbps (kilobyte per second) in contrast to the standard MP3 downloads normally encoded in-between 96-128 kbps. For some people and sound experts, 256 kbps can be considered as the true “CD quality” when listen to.

What will be the impact for the music industry. Nobody could really tell it now but reports on the Web is being spread about the possibilities of iTunes store in the issues of alleged antitrust violations. On the other hand, some predicted that iPod sales would drop thereafter a user could download and use the songs on any kind of devices, not solely restricted to the designated iPod. The way EMI and Apple revolutionized the songs being listen to would definitely disappoint some of the long-time iPod lovers. Or this may considered as a hint by Apple that sent a message to the public for the switch to iTunes software on the PC. Will this move attract more people in downloading iTunes softwares in the future?

But one thing for sure, DRM is dead as it is invented as a technology to “control” a digital file, i.e. restrict a user from copying, the number of times it is being accessed, how the digital file will become expire, and etc. By dropping DRM, it also means Apple is “dropping” its success, proprietary DRM system for the iPod. A trend-right for the users and a shrewd move of EMI and Apple.