Apple offers DRM-free downloads

Record label EMI has agreed to sell music downloads without copy protection through Apple's iTunes music store, in what is a U-turn on music industry policy.

The label will offer so-called 'premium' versions of all of its tracks, priced at 99p in the UK. Standard downloads of all tracks, including those from EMI artists, cost 79p. However, the premium versions will be higher quality, as well as being unprotected.

Since digital music was first sold on the internet in the early part of the decade it has always been 'locked' with Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, which stops people copying downloaded music to other people. EMI is the first label to move towards ditching DRM, a technology that many consumers regard as too restrictive.

The premium songs will be encoded at 256kbits/sec, compared with the 128kbits/sec of other downloads. The higher rate means better quality sound. Fans who have previously bought DRM-encoded tracks will be able to upgrade them on payment of the 20p surplus per track.

In a separate announcement, EMI said it hoped to bring the songs of The Beatles to the internet for the first time. Until now, legal issues have prevented the band, the most popular not to be available for legal download, from selling music online.