Apple announce DRM free iTunes and over the air 3G iTunes downloads for the iPhone 3G!

Apple have kick started the new year by announcing that all songs on its iTunes music service will be available without copy protection, potentially enabling them to be played on any MP3 player. Previously, most tracks bought through iTunes could only be played via the programme itself or on Apple’s branded iPods. The move means that Apple, who are the biggest music vendor in the world having sold over 6 billion songs, actually first went DRM-free with the launch of “iTunes Plus” in May 2007, but only with tracks from EMI. Since then rival competitors, such as Amazon, 7digital and Play.com, have offered a wider range of DRM-free music so the time has now come for Apple to expand and compete in new market areas.

Apple revealed that with immediate effect, eight million iTunes tracks will be offered without restrictive digital rights management, with a further two million to be offered in what Apple calls “iTunes Plus” by the 1st of April. Making the announcement at the Macworld technology show in San Francisco, Apple’s senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller, also said that from April 1st, music will either cost 59p, 79p or 99p per song, rather than the current flat-rate of 99p. That move is thought to be in line with the wishes of record labels, who have previously sought to charge variable prices, but have resisted the move towards music without so-called Digital Rights Management.

This change, however, will only affect new purchases from the iTunes store, so consumers who have previously built up a library on their computers will face the daunting prospect of now having to pay to upgrade their music to the new format. A spokesperson for Apple said: “iTunes offers customers a simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their entire library of previously purchased songs to the higher quality DRM-free iTunes Plus format for just 30 cents per song or 30 percent of the album price”. This works out to around 20 pence per song here in the UK.

Many music players and mobile phones, too, will still not be able to play songs in the format Apple is using, because the company will continue to use its proprietary “AAC” files, rather than changing to the more universal MP3 format. The change, however, is likely to spur many hardware manufacturers to update their products.

In addition, Schiller announced that over the air 3G iTunes downloads would now be available for iPhone 3G owners. Basically this means that iPhone 3G users can now preview and purchase anything from the entire iTunes Store music catalogue on their phone via their 3G network, just as they do with Wi-Fi today, for the same price and in the same high quality format. Apple also announced a web-based version of its group of business applications, iWork.com, in a move that could see it rival companies such as Google and Microsoft, and unveiled a new 17” laptop computer.

The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalogue of over 10 million songs, over 30,000 TV episodes and over 2,500 films including over 600 in stunning high definition video. With Apple’s pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.