Three down, one to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM

Three down, one to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM

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Three down, one to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM

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Three down, one to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM

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Three down, one to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM Home Business Apple Gaming Hardware Gear & Gadgets Security Law & Disorder Home News Articles Guides Journals Forum Shop. ars Emporium RSS From the Newsdesk Three down, one to go: Warner Music Group drops DRM By Nate Anderson | Published: December 27, 2007 - 01:27PM CT Related Stories Lala to open DRM-free digital music store with free streaming access to songs Jobs' RDF generator brings Warner Music CEO back into the fold (Updated) Warner pulls catalog from Last.fm over revenue squabble Warner Music has bent beneath the force of the anti-DRM winds sweeping the globe. The label will now offer its complete catalog, DRM-free, through Amazon's new MP3 store. The announcement means that EMI, Universal, and Warner now offer their catalogs in DRM-free digital formats, making Sony BMG (of rootkit fame) the lone holdout among the majors. Amazon now claims to offer for than 2.9 million songs in MP3 format from over 33,000 unique labels. Warner's announcement says nothing about offering its content through other services such as iTunes, and represents the music industry's attempt to make life a bit more difficult for Apple after all the years in which the company held the keys to music's digital kingdom; no one could sell major label tracks to iPod owners except for iTunes, and iTunes even become a go-to destination for non-iPod owners who wanted a simple, cheap way to pick up some songs. Now, with the move to MP3, the labels that have chosen to open their music have a way to encourage multiple download services to flourish, keeping labels safe from being dominated by any single digital distributor. The move comes just before Amazon plans to give away one billion tracks, a promotion that will begin with the Super Bowl in January, and Warner was no doubt interested in jumping on board the promo train before it left the station. Will Sony BMG, which has apparently never met a form of copy protection that it doesn't like, follow suit? The "Mene, mene..." is already on the wall, and it looks likely that Sony BMG will go DRM-free, too, by the end of 2008. The entire movement to free music from DRM's shackles has had stunning success in 2007 after years in which such widespread moves to MP3 looked impossible. Could movies be next? Filed under: Warner Music Group, DRM, Amazon, music Apple patent app covers wireless purchasing beyond Starbucks :Next PostConnecticut governor plans opt-out system for personal info :Prev Post Latest News Posts Latest Journal Posts Opera 10 alpha 1 released, brings Acid3 victory Australia's Internet filtering too ambitious, doomed to fail Editorial: Does Amazon's iPhone app go too far? Python 3.0 slithers onto scene, sheds backward compatibility A $100 Midget PC at the local dollar store? Not so fast Is the last mile of fiber-to-the-node the future of BPL? Google Friend Connect launches, eyes Facebook Connect FBI: widespread copper theft puts US infrastructure at risk O Canada! EA unveils 3 on 3 NHL Arcade title Xbox Marketplace Update: it's Decem-brrrrrrr edition Apple up to 16% of smartphone market, driving market growth Teaching Thunderbird to Tango Fedora 11 schedule announced iPhone eBook reader Stanza adds support for eReader content Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2 public betas arrive Netflix "Watch It Now" comes out of beta, added to Boxee O Canada! EA unveils 3 on 3 NHL Arcade title Fulfilling the prayers of our Canadian staff writers, EA has announced that it will be putting out an arcade-style 3-on-3 hockey game in February. Software Developer at Rosetta Stone Harrisonburg, VA Visual Designer at Lime Wire LLC New York, NY FCC Chairman at the American People Washington D.C. Web applications developer at Peace Operations Training Institute Williamsburg, VA Senior SW Systems Engineer and Architect at StackSafe, Inc. Vienna VA 4 Key Steps to Automate IT Security Compliance The Handbook of Application Delivery: Everything You Wanted to Know but Didn't Know You Needed to Ask eBook: Vulnerability Management for Dummies Rapid E-Learning: Maturing Technology Brings Balance and Possibilities Ars Ultimate Home Theater PC Guide: 1080p HDMI Edition Adobe Illustrator CS4 Review Ars gives thanks: Top tech trends we're thankful for this year Ars Staff Gift Guide 2008 Drawn together: the love affair between comics and games Apple: only idiots believe our ads.Convince me my new Nikon pocket camera isn't a lemon (with pics)Any reason NOT to install XP SP3? IT is not rolling out for ~6 months...???How do you recover from programmer burn out?Am I wrong in thinking that if we paid for gigabit infrastructure, we should use it? © 2008 CondéNet Inc. All rights reserved. About Ars Technica | Advertise | Contact Us | FAQ | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Reprints | RSS Feeds | Subscribe

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