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Our Blogs The BeerFiles iTunes DRM-free price cut: Apple bitten by Universal?
Our Blogs The BeerFiles iTunes DRM-free price cut: Apple bitten by Universal? | iTunes DRM-free price cut: Apple bitten by Universal? |
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| by Stan Beer | |
| Wednesday, 17 October 2007 | |
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So what's the problem? The problem is that a significantly wider choice of DRM-free music is available from the world's largest recording company at sites other than iTunes, such as Amazon, Rhapsody, Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Because this non-iTunes music is DRM-free there should be no problem getting it on to iPods. Right now Universal is only running a five month trial of its DRM-free service and sceptics doubt that it will have any long term impact on sales through the iTunes juggernaut. Yet Apple has responded like a company which is at least concerned if not worried. For Universal, which has been watching Apple like hawk, the latest move by iTunes must be encouraging. Universal boss Doug Morris has implemented a multi-pronged anti-iTunes strategy and is said to be holding talks with both Sony BMG and Warner Bros on bundling music with non-iPod portable music players. The immense popularity of the iPod is likely to see it unaffected by any such bundling deals. However, if these three major players ever decided to get together on offering DRM-free music through sites other than iTunes, a serious challenge to the dominance of iTunes could eventuate. If such a thing does eventuate, those who hate the record companies could hardly complain. After all, nearly every buyer would like to see the demise DRM music, including the Apple faithful, wouldn't they?
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