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Dave Goldberg told the Music 2.0 conference in Los Angeles that DRM has created a barrier for consumers between their music and what they can do with it, such as transfer it the portable device of their choice.

Railing against the standard music industry philosophy which insists that DRM prevents widespread 'piracy' of downloaded tracks - as if this wasn't happening anyway - Goldberg suggests

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that copy protection is holding back the growth of the digital market.

Currently, consumers are not prepared to pay for something that they can get for free - via p2p - or on another medium without usage restrictions

'There is a cost associated with DRM, and that is lost sales of content,' he said.

What Goldberg did not say was that allowing Yahoo! Music and its rivals to sell unencumbered MP3 files would give them access to the one device that has provided and continues to provide the download market's dynamic, the iPod.

Record label bosses have on several occasions called for music stores to agree a single DRM standard so that all music stores are compatible with all portable devices. Apple has steadfastly refused to licence its Fairplay DRM that ties downloads from the iTunes Music Store to its iPods, arguing that the closed-shop strategy is what enables it to continue to innovate.