Steve Jobs will soon launch an iTunes music subscription service, targeted at the Apple TV, regardless of whatever he says publicly.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - While EMI will boldly go where no major has gone before and sell its catalog as unprotected digital files, other forces are coming into play that should bolster the potential for a commercial MP3 marketplace.

100 million iPods have finally been sold, making it the most popular music player in the known universe, despite the fact Nokia claims more sales due to most of their phones playing mp3s.

SanDisk’s “Sansa Connect” gives users the ability to download music wirelessly right from the device, and we now know that you’ll be able to buy music wirelessly from Yahoo’s Music service.

Comment Having been a big believer in DRM and its necessity, although dismissive of its inflexibility and lack of sophistication, we, Rethink Research, have to interpret the big news of last week that EMI will offer its catalog DRM-free, as at least dangerous and potentially disastrous. But that's only if it is looked at in the long term. In the short term it might even be beneficial to both EMI and Apple.

EMI’s decision to sell music without DRM through Apple’s iTunes store, and other online music stores, has not only enraged some competitors, but has encouraged Microsoft to jump on the DRM-free bandwagon.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Major record companies are forcing Apple to curtail access to iTunes online stores across borders, leading to higher prices and less choice, the European Commission said on Tuesday.