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Posted on 04/01/2007 4:26:14 PM PDT by wagglebee
LONDON (AP) - Record company EMI Group PLC said Sunday it planned to unveil "an exciting new digital offering" with computer company Apple Inc. (AAPL), raising expectations that The Beatles' music catalog is about to be made available through Apple's iTunes online music store.
EMI said it would hold a news conference Monday at its London headquarters with its chief executive, Eric Nicoli, and Apple boss Steve Jobs "and a special live performance."
The company gave no further details.
EMI has been The Beatles' record label since the early 1960s.
The Beatles have so far been the most prominent holdout from iTunes and other online music services, and Apple's overtures to put the music online were stymied by a long-running trademark dispute with The Beatles' commercial guardian, Apple Corps. Ltd.
In February, Apple Inc. and Apple Corps resolved their legal feud over use of the apple logo and name, paving the way for an agreement for online access to the Fab Four's songs.
Apple Corps was founded by the Fab Four in 1968 and is still owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the widow of John Lennon and the estate of George Harrison.
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So I guess this will make Led Zeppelin the biggest holdout now. I hope Steve puts a lot of effort into getting them in the store.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that EMI has agreed to allow Apple to sell their music without Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Monday, April 02, 2007 - 12:07 AM EDT
"Apple Inc. and music label EMI Group Plc plan to announce 'an exciting new digital offering,' EMI said on Sunday, renewing speculation of a deal to put the Beatles music catalog online," Eric Auchard reports for Reuters.
Auchard reports, "However, a source familiar with the situation said a Beatles deal would not be featured at the event on Monday. 'There is no Beatles' announcement,' the source said."
"EMI said that it plans to hold a news conference on Monday at its London headquarters, where EMI Chief Executive Eric Nicoli will be joined by Apple Chief Executive and co-founder Steve Jobs, the company said in an e-mail to reporters," Auchard reports. "A live Webcast of the event, which will feature 'a special live performance,' will be available at http://www.emigroup.com beginning at 1 p.m. local time in London (8 a.m. EDT). (1200 GMT)."
"Beyond any potential deal with EMI involving the Beatles, Apple and EMI could be working on a means for eliminating restrictions that prevent unauthorized duplication of digital music," Auchard reports.
"Earlier this year, Jobs called on the world's four major record companies, including EMI, to start selling songs online without copy protection software to thwart piracy known as digital rights management," Auchard reports. "Jobs said there appeared to be no benefit for the record companies in continuing to sell more than 90 percent of their music without DRM on compact discs, while selling the remaining small percentage of music online encumbered with a DRM system."
MacDailyNews Note: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that "EMI Group PLC is set to announce Monday that it plans to sell significant amounts of its catalog without anticopying software [DRM]... through Apple's iTunes Store and possibly through other online outlets." The Wall Street Journal has a stellar record of correctly reporting day-before Apple-related announcements, correctly calling the addition of movies from Paramount Pictures to Apple's iTunes Store and Apple's teaming with Cingular [AT&T Wireless] on iPhone, for two recent examples.
"The Wall Street Journal is reporting that EMI has agreed to allow Apple to sell their music without Digital Rights Management (DRM)."
No DRM is a much bigger story than getting the Beatle's catalog in the first place.
Does that mean that all former EMI purchases will have the DRM removed?
Good question. Not sure how they would go about doing that. My "guess" would be no...
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the high-quality songs will be encoded at 256kbps AAC instead of 128kbps AAC used for the standard songs. The new songs will carry a higher price of $1.29 — $0.30 higher than the stand $0.99 of the current songs.“This is a landmark event and is part of a major shift that will take place this year resulting in consumers being able to purchase music from any digital music store and play it on any digital music player,” said Jobs.
Users will not be forced to pay the higher prices if they don’t want to. Jobs said the higher-quality DRM-free songs will be an addition to the store, not a replacement for what is already being offered. Users can still choose to purchase DRM-encoded tracks for $0.99.
Albums with high-quality audio will remain at the same price as the current albums. Users that already own EMI tracks purchased from iTunes can upgrade their entire library for $0.30 a song, if they wish.
Cool. Thanks.
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