Quote:
Originally Posted by Manabi
There's a lot of truth to this, it happened in the mp3 music market. Eventually the labels realized that DRM was giving Apple a total stranglehold on the market and allowed Amazon to go DRM-free with their mp3 store. Not long after, iTunes did as well.
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Other way around. The music labels
required Apple to use DRM, with Sony BMG being the pushiest about it (remember Sony's First4Internet DRM installing root kits). Jobs argued argued against DRM (a little hypocritically, since he wouldn't license Fairplay to anyone else
) in private with the labels, and eventually in an
open letter on Feb 6/07. EMI went DRM free on iTunes in May '07 (for 30cents more). In October '07, price went back down to $0.99 for DRM free. Universal and Warner went DRM free soon after, and Sony BMG in 2008. DRM free was initially for new music only, and all itunes music went DRM free in 2009 when the initial agreements lapsed. Amazon MP3 started in September '07 with music from EMI and Universal. Since it started with new agreements, all titles where DRM free from the start. Warner joined in December '07 and Sony BMG in early 2008. I worked for EMI from before the iTunes store opened and know all about the music labels' affair with DRM both on iTunes and on physical media. You can't blame Apple for this, we did it to ourselves...