Imagine It Productions Blog The PC Builder, The Gamer, The Developer

iTunes is DRM FREE!January 6th, 2009

Apple has pulled a quick one on the entire Internet community and are setting iTunes to go completely DRM Free.  You got it.  No more “only 5 computers are authorized” crap.  We now get AAC files that can play on any device (as long as the device supports the codec and AAC filetype).  Most songs are available now with iTunes going completely DRM free by April 2009.

There also is the option right now to upgrade your iTunes library to DRM Free “iTunes Plus” music.  If you go to the iTunes Store from iTunes, and click the link on the right “Upgrade My Library to iTunes Plus,” you are directed to a page where you can pay $.30 a song to upgrade.  If you have been collecting iTunes music for a while, this is going to cost you.  I paid $21 to upgrade 94 songs.  But in the end, being DRM free is just worth it.

The price structure will also change.  This was perfect timing too.  Apple has been trying to find a way to deal with the increase delivered by the Copyright Royalty Board.  From the blog over at Wired,

As part of their general muscle-flexing of late, music publishers asked the board to increase the royalties paid to publishers and songwriters for the sale of digital downloads from 9 cents to 15 cents per song.

Though I won’t speculate about what happened behind closed doors, I would assume that the new pricing structure is to deal with the 6 cent increase on songs.  Instead of passing the increase directly onto the iTunes store as a whole, which would make songs $1.05, they have decided to charge for a song based on its popularity.

More popular songs will be $1.29, moderately popular will be $.99, and not very popular at $.69.  My guess here is that their profit comes from the top two lines of popularity making up for the songs that sell for close to no profit at $.69.  Though I would still rather find a highly popular song at Amazon for $.99 than $1.29, Apple is headed in the right direction (as opposed to shutting down the iTunes store altogether which was threatened back in October).