The unrestricted online accessibility of digital music has taken another positive step forward this week following news that Warner Music has penned a new deal with download portal 7digital to make its sprawling music catalogue available in an MP3 format without copy protection.
7digital strikes a deal to bring downloadable DRM-free Warner Music content to Europe. Credit: Warner Music.
This latest deal between music label and online vendor is yet another sign of gathering industry and consumer opinion gradually forcing copyright-holding media giants to relinquish their grip on the contentious Digital Rights Management (DRM) system as they strive to counter dwindling physical music sales with the push of versatile online downloads.
Of the four major players in the music industry, Warner Music is the biggest, offering the likes of James Blunt, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paolo Nutini and Michael Buble.
Beyond the securing of Warner Music, 7digital also offers DRM-free content from EMI Group, which is the world’s fourth largest label and offers artists such as Lenny Kravitz, The Kooks, and The Beatles -- the latter of which are expected to arrive online some time in 2008.
“This deal will offer music fans a new level of flexibility in their use of tracks from our world-renowned artists,” enthused Warner Music Europe president John Reid in a Reuters report.
The new deal, which sees 7digital become the first major download portal in Europe to offer Warner Music tracks in DRM-free MP3, will be open to customers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, France and Germany.
Online retailer Amazon.com is expected to launch a similar DRM-free MP3 service in Europe later in 2008, but has been beaten to the regional punch on this occasion.
7digital has indicated that it expects other notable music labels (i.e. Universal Music and Sony BMG) to also sign up for DRM-free content delivery.
View blog reactions
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)
Advertising
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)