Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Napster launches DRM-free download service

More and more music stores are finally turning away from DRM (Digital Rights Management), which is good for the customers, as they can listen to the music they bought on any devices they have and prefer to listen music on. DRM protected music may not be available in your home stereo or in your car, but nowadays you can use those too, and do not require to buy some fancy MP3 player, like an iPod, a Creative Zen, or a Zune to play those back.



Napster has become the first online music store in the UK to offer DRM-free downloads from all four major music labels.

The company has also switched focus from its monthly subscription model to concentrate on per-track downloads, although both options will be supported by the online service.


Over six million songs are available from the store at 79p each, and the removal of the "DRM cloud" will give customers more freedom to do as they please with their purchases, says Napster boss Chris Gorog.


Napster's monthly subscription model charges users $10 or $15 per month to access tracks for as long as their subscription remains active. DRM technology renders files unusable once this payment is canceled.



The Napster store will compete directly with a similar service from Amazon, the only other online store with MP3s from all the major labels, and Apple's iTunes, which offers a limited number of MP3 tracks from EMI Records.

The move also shifts Napster away from its previous "all you can eat" music service, which let users access as much music as they wanted for a monthly subscription.


"We believe ultimately that consumers will be moving to an unlimited music model," said Mr Gorog, adding that Napster will continue to support its subscription service.




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