Music News Bulletin - 09/01/09

Remaining Three Majors Drop DRM at iTunes, and Why It Matters
"Apple has come to an agreement with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music that will give iTunes their songs in MP3 format. The majors get a three-tiered pricing structure (not dynamic pricing, and only slightly variable pricing) that finally gives them the ability to price according to demand. There is also word that iPhone users will be able to download from iTunes through their cellular carrier.

The news has been covered widely, and there has been some interesting opinion out there. One blogger thinks there is no reason to ever shop at anywhere but iTunes (I wholeheartedly disagree, compatibility with the iPod is only one reason to shop there). Another believes allowing iPhone users to download via cellular carriers could lead to explosive mobile music sales (if that happens they will probably just replace normal downloads and result in a wash). No, the important effects of this news are further under the surface." [Coolfer]

Changes Coming to the iTunes Store
"Apple today announced several changes to the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com/uk). Beginning today, all four major music labels — Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, along with thousands of independent labels, are now offering their music in iTunes Plus, Apple’s DRM-free format with higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings. iTunes customers can also choose to download their favourite songs from the world’s largest music catalogue directly onto their iPhone™ 3G over their 3G network just as they do with Wi-Fi today, for the same price as downloading to their computer. And beginning in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points: 59 pence, 79 pence and 99 pence, with most albums still priced at £7.99." [RecordOfTheDay]

Apple vendra sur iTunes sans dispositif anticopie
"Le groupe informatique a annoncé qu’il allait supprimer d’ici à la fin mars les dispositifs anticopie de la musique qu’il vend sur sa plateforme. Les maisons de disque ont longuement milité pour que les internautes ne puissent pas acheter de chansons ou d’albums sans ces dispositifs qui lient le fichier à un seul utilisateur.

Apple vendra sur iTunes sans dispositif anticopie
L’annonce a été faite lors du salon Macworld Expo à San Francisco (Californie, ouest des Etats-Unis) à l’occasion de la présentation par le vice-président du marketing d’Apple, Phil Schiller, du nouveau modèle de l’ordinateur MacBook Pro et d’améliorations aux logiciels qui équipent la gamme Macintosh." [LeSoir]