Zack Rippy

Apple announced yesterday that they are making the majority of their vast music library available DRM-free via the iTunes Store. What this means is that you will be able to play files you download on other non-Apple (iPod) players and software. The tracks will cost a bit more - $1.29 versus $0.99 - and they are not M3P3 files, but instead, Apple’s preferred AAC format. The AAC files, while unencrypted - will still contain your personal information, so beware of that. You can also upgrade your already-purchased tracks for $0.30 per song. The other benefit is that the unencrypted files are encoded at twice the bitrate (256kbps vs. 128), for noticeably higher audio quality. They are als going to a mult-tiered pricing model, with tracks available for $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29. The prices will be determined by the record labels, which is a huge change of course for Apple.

It’s more personal preference, but I will stick with Amazon’s MP3 Store for now. MP3’s are ubiquitous; everything plays them. I also prefer not to have my name and email address embedded within my audio files. I have bought only two items from iTunes in the past year - a Ray LaMontagne exclusive live EP and a Dave Matthews Band 2008 Live Sampler (which was actually free with concert tickets). I’ll gladly pay a couple dollars to upgrade those - the audio on the encrypted files really is noticeably degraded and it will be nice to get higher-quality versions of them.

This has to be seen as a shot back at Amazon, whose MP3 store seems to be gaining popularity, though it is still a distant second to the iTunes Store. I’m thrilled by yesterday’s annoucenment. The current DRM model needs to be kicked to the curb and I will welcome any step in that direction.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 10:49 am and is filed under Music, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.