iTunes Plus Revealed
This February, in what was most definitely a classic hype-producing move, Steve Jobs posted his “Thoughts on Music” essay for all the internet to jabber about. Then in April Apple and EMI announced iTunes would soon be offering tracks to download sans-DRM. Now at last, a giant step forwards in the war against lame copy-protection arrives: iTunes Plus.
iTunes Plus is the new catalog of EMI tracks, AAC 256kbps encoded, now available for download at a slightly increased $1.39 a track, or the same old 9.99 an album (you should get the album anyways for the artists’ sake, or more importantly go to their concerts and buy their merch!).
Another very cool addition is the ability to upgrade already-purchased DRM songs to DRM-free versions for 30 cents a pop or $3.00 an album.
And this isn’t just a meager offering of a few so-so artists. EMI has a slew of big-name bands such as Blur, Coldplay, Dandy Warhols, Everclear, Queen, Radiohead, Rolling Stones, Sigur Ros, and the Chemical Brothers.
Though this is a dollar-driven move, as it always is, it nevertheless works out very favorably for all the DMCA/restricted rights hating consumers out there.
