|
I think that the Record Execs bullied Apple out of the $0.99 per song / $9.99 per album by allowing Amazon to sell DRM free music. Apple had to offer DRM downloads or continue to watch Amazon's music download business grow.
I think that Amazon decided to sell DRM free music because it was their only choice if they wanted to sell music downloads against iTunes.
I agree with Gideon on how it's likely to play out but I don't believe that Bezos is the DRM Free Saint (I don't think Jobs was either).
Amazon wants to use DRM to tie people to their online store because they don't want to compete against other online vendors just on price and they recognize they can't drive enough additional value from their service. They'll only abandon it when they are forced to.
|