EMI Unlocks the Piracy Chain: Apple ‘Reduces’ Album Download Prices
EMI Unlocks the Piracy Chain: Apple ‘Reduces’ Album Download Prices
April 3, 2007: EMI has unlocked the chain of piracy protection and released its entire catalogue on to Apple iTunes, free of DRM restrictions.
By removing the DRM restrictions, consumers will be able to play tracks purchased through iTunes on any platform or music player while also accessing higher-quality 256k music downloads. But the move comes at a price, users will have to pay around 20 cents extra per track to access the ‘unrestricted’ content.
The news comes as Apple last week announced consumers who have purchased a single song on iTunes can now acquire the album from which that song appeared on minus the original cost of the song.
The “Complete My Album” feature Apple is designed to encourage album sales. Apple is calling the offer a "discount".
But consumers shouldn't get too excited about the "discount" just yet. The $1.69 per individual song still applies (a higher price than those using US or European credit cards) but you won’t be forced to purchase a song twice if you’ve bought a single first. The "discounted" album price will be valid for 180 days after the first purchase of individual songs from selected albums.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes says, “Music fans can now round out their music collections by upgrading their singles into complete albums with just one click, and get full credit for those songs they have previously purchased from iTunes. Complete My Album is a wonderful new way that iTunes helps customers grow and enjoy their music collections.”
Today’s EMI announcement will bring little online relief to Beatles fans. While releasing the Beatles catalogue to iTunes has been discussed extensively by both EMI and Apple, no deals have been brokered on the disputed music.