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The Death of Music DRM?

Apple announced today that 8 million songs on iTunes will be DRM-free, and by the end of this quarter all 10 million will be.

Between Apple and Amazon (who are already DRM-free), we may have just witnessed the beginning of the end of music DRM. No one offering DRM’ed music will be able to compete. I hope this trend continues as the savvier companies realize that DRM punishes lawful consumers far more than pirates.

Update: My mistake. It’s the iTunes Plus library that’ll be DRM-free. Well, it’s a start. I still think they’re idiots for clinging to DRM at all, even though I understand why they do.

chrisrugen

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2 responses to “The Death of Music DRM?”

  1. Joep van den Heuvel Avatar
    Joep van den Heuvel

    Hi Chris,

    What’s your take on Steve Jobs and the rumor surrounding his illness? Is Apple really at risk without Jobs?

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  2. chris r Avatar
    chris r

    I agree with John Gruber, who basically says: Jobs has come forward about his illness (which caused the weight loss) and revealed that it’s being treated. I think the whole thing is blown out of proportion because Jobs is Apple for most of the world. And I think Apple will be hard-pressed to continue succeeding as it has without his singular leadership. However, they’re clearly working to put other faces on Apple. I hope it works for them, but you can count me as an optimistic skeptic.

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