Yahoo is next to consider a DRM-free music store
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Yahoo is reportedly in talks with major labels about a DRM-free music store. to offer them either for sale or for free in an ad-supported model.
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Microsoft have made a beta version of their new music store available to the public. The store is entirely browser-based and does not require a separate client like iTunes.
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Retailer Play.com is planning to open its own digital music store which will sell DRM-free tracks for between 65 and 70 pence.
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Yahoo! is planning to launch its own online music service later this year, despite its $160m purchase of Musicmatch announced this week, according to music industry sources.
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Papering over the cracks Microsoft is working on closing a loophole that creates a means to strip usage restriction from music files wrapped in its DRM technology. A program called FairUse4WM, recently posted on the internet, allows users to bypass Microsoft's Digital Rights Management (DRM) system.â¦
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Apple moved closer to selling DRM-free music with the release Wednesday of an iTunes update.
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(InfoWorld) - Yahoo put another music track without DRM (digital rights management) on sale through its Yahoo Music service Tuesday. The Norah Jones single "Thinking About You" sells for $0.99, in MP3 format on Yahoo's music store, and in DRM-encumbered AAC format on Apple Computer's iTunes Store. Both formats will play on PCs, Macs, and the market-leading iPod portable music player, but only the MP3 version will play on other portable music players. DRM technology is used to set limits on how, when, how many times, and on what devices a file may be played. While DRM can be applied to music in AAC, ATRAC, or WMA format, it cannot be introduced into MP3 files. Yahoo first experimented withÂ selling MP3 files without DRMÂ in July, when it offered Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair" as an MP3 file for $1.99. While that track was not tied to a particular PC or music player with DRM, the audio track was personalized to contain a first name of the purchaser's choice, picked from a list of hundreds of prerecorded names, limiting its interest to other listeners. Since then, Yahoo has sold an entire album by the artist Jesse McCartney in both MP3 and the DRM-encumbered WMA (Windows Media Audio) format, but has not published sales figures for the two formats. Some see the release of tracks in MP3 format, without DRM, as a big gamble for record labels, as nothing prevents buyers from uploading them to file-sharing networks. In reality, DRM does little to stop such behavior, but makes life harder for legitimate music users, said analyst Mark Mulligan, a vice president at Jupiter Research in the U.K. "Most of the DRM in place is not going to stop piracy. You've got limits on CD-burning, but all of that is cracked immediately if you burn it onto CD and rip it back in again. Anyone with an ounce of tech-savvy is going to know how to get around that," he said. But the fact that there's nothing to stop listeners copying and sharing MP3 files could work to record labels' advantage, said Mulligan. "It's going to be implemented more as marketing than anything else," he said. Blue Note Records, the record label promoting the Jones track, is only releasing the single, not an entire album, in MP3 format for now. If Mulligan is right, it could be just a marketing gimmick to build awareness of the album, which will go on sale in January. Major record labels are starting toÂ look more seriously at MP3 distributionÂ because of the success of eMusic.com, which Mulligan says is the second-largest online music download store in the U.S., after that of Apple. EMusic sells music from independent record labels in MP3 format.
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It's the end of an era Amazon.com has now secured the right to sell DRM-free music from all four major labels, snagging Sony BMG.â¦
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It's bad for business Column The DRM walls are crumbling. Earlier this week, Steve Jobs called on the major record labels to allow online music sales unfettered by digital rights management restrictions.â¦
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Online retailer Amazon.com Inc   said on Sunday it will begin an international roll-out  this year of its digital music store that offers songs without  copy-protection technology known as digital rights management.
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Apple&#39;s iTunes Music Store may be the current 800-pound gorilla of the online music industry (as far as paid downloads are concerned), but now Yahoo - possibly the most visited site on the Internet - is getting into the fray, paying $160 million in cash
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Yahoo Inc., is in early discussions with major record labels over offering unprotected MP3s either for sale or for free as part of an ad-supported service, two record company executives familiar with the talks said Wednesday.
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The label has announced a deal that allows Amazon to sell DRM-free tracks through its online music store.
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The popular site is aiming to beat Amazon online with a selection of unrestricted MP3 downloads.
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By Jefferson Graham  LOS ANGELES -- The music industry is looking ahead to life without copy protection.
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Amazon.com has added songs from Warner Music Group to the range it sells as MP3 files without DRM (digital rights management), the companies said Friday.
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Amazon.com launched the public beta of its digital music store today with over 2 million DRM-free tracks available, though many artists are missing from the store's catalog.