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[PSUs]| Monday 2nd April 2007 |
EMI also announced that it would be removing DRM measures from its music videos, although it did not specify prices. The announcement was made at an event in London, fronted by EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli, and Steve Jobs, his Apple counterpart.
Nicoli, whose company is on target to make 25% of its sales through digital downloads, said that EMI was committed to embracing change, and believed that going forward there were three important points that must be met. Downloads, he said, should offer value for money and wide choice, and be simple to understand.
Two versions of each track will be offered: a 79p, 128kbit/sec DRM-protected edition, and a 99p, 256kbit/sec DRM-free version. When available, iTunes will offer every
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that market research indicated that the 'vast majority' would opt for the higher quality, higher price version of each track. He estimated that well over half of the 5 million tracks available on the iTunes Store today will appear in DRM-free editions before the end of 2007.
'The right thing for the customer going forward is to tear down the walls that preclude interoperability by going DRM free. And that starts today,' Jobs said.
Asked when the Beatles would be available on the iTunes Store and when the tracks would be available DRM-free, neither CEO was able to offer an answer. 'We're working on it,' said Nicoli. 'We don't know yet.'
The iTunes Store features over five million songs, 350 television shows and over 400 movies. The iTunes Store has sold over two billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over 1.3 million movies. Television shows and feature films are available in the US only, and video availability varies by country.
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