EMI Stops Releasing DRM Digital Music

Leslie Cheung over 18 years ago

In a press conference held by EMI and Apple Inc., both companies have joined force to abolish digital rights management (DRM) for digital music.

The announcement was made at the record label's headquarters in London this afternoon (April 2), where it was revealed that the two companies have struck a deal to end DRM on their label's music.

EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli and Apple CEO Steve Jobs hosted the press conference, where he confirmed that the British record label is launching its DRM-free superior quality downloads across its entire digital repertoire, and Apple's iTunes Music Store will be the first online digital music store to have EMI's new downloads available.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently wrote in an open-letter published on Apple.com to urge record labels to drop the DRM technology, claiming it fails to protect from piracy.

The label's supergroup, The Good, The Bad And The Queen, played "Herculean" and "Green Fields" to mark the deal between the two corporation.

Speaking after the press conference, EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli confirmed the Fab Four will be going online. However, he explained that they were not sure of the exact online date, and confirmed the label were "working on it".