Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM

News Type: Event — Seeded on Fri Jan 4, 2008 11:50 AM EST

Article Source: Business Week

business, music, sony, drm, riaa, sony-bmg, bmg

The last major label will throw in the towel on digital rights management and prepare to fight Apple for valuable download revenues.

In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, BusinessWeek.com has learned. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sony BMG would become the last of the top four music labels to drop DRM, following Warner Music Group (WMG), which in late December said it would sell DRM-free songs through Amazon.com's (AMZN) digital music store. EMI and Vivendi's Universal Music Group announced their plans for DRM-free downloads earlier in 2007.

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{"commentId":1328366,"authorDomain":"deatienza"}

Eric Atienza

It's about time.

{"commentId":1328366,"threadId":"197855","contentId":"1203774","authorDomain":"deatienza"}

2 votes

#1 - Fri Jan 4, 2008 12:06 PM EST

{"commentId":1330804,"authorDomain":"spudsstuff"}

Spuds Stuff

Slowly but surely the music industry is coming around.

{"commentId":1330804,"threadId":"197855","contentId":"1203774","authorDomain":"spudsstuff"}

2 votes

#2 - Sat Jan 5, 2008 1:35 AM EST

{"commentId":1330842,"authorDomain":"redwolf"}

Red Wolf

Did hell freeze over?

{"commentId":1330842,"threadId":"197855","contentId":"1203774","authorDomain":"redwolf"}

2 votes

#3 - Sat Jan 5, 2008 2:01 AM EST

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Labels See New Online Music Options	Associated Press	Sun Jan 6	0
Sony may have the oddest plan ever for DRM-free music	Download Squad	Mon Jan 7	18
Lone holdout in DRMed music recommends DRM circumvention	Ars Technica	Fri Jan 4	0

MICHAEL SAUTTER

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Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM

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