Based on my conversations with my friends today, I have a feeling that not many of us know the significance of EMI’s decision to release their entire digital catalogue DRM-free. I guess that’s because DRM is kind of a ‘techie’ topic and because we’re not really thought to respect intellectual property here… Because of that, I’ve compiled this list of Q&As to shed some light on the significance of this deal.

So.. What does this DRM-free music mean to me?
DRM, or Digital Rights Management, restricts the ways in which you can use digital media which you purchased, e.g. music, to prevent piracy. Some examples of these restrictions are like not being able to play music you bought from iTunes or Napster on incompatible music players, or not being able to use the music you bought as a soundtrack to a home movie. DRM-free music means that these inconveniences will just go away.

I’m already getting DRM-free music by ripping my CDs and downloading it from BitTorrent. What’s so good about this deal?
Ripping CDs to get DRM-free music means that you need to buy the whole CD. You can’t pick and choose your favourite songs. If you can find a CD with 3 or more really good tracks, you’re really lucky.

Music downloaded from BitTorrent and peer-to-peer networks like Limewire may be DRM-free, but it’s also illegal. You may not care but there are those who certainly do and don’t want to steal and pirate to get their music. Plus most BitTorrent seeds come in a lower bitrate compared to the EMI DRM-free downloads.

What’s the point of the 99 cent tracks that continue to have DRM then?
Steve says they don’t want to change things and raise prices for the big group of users who don’t care about DRM. They will continue to have the option of buying songs at the old price. At the same time, this gives the DRM-free, higher quality, songs a higher intrinsic value in addition to their higher monetary value. This gives customers a choice and encourages them to spend a little more.

This move to offer DRM-free content across its whole catalogue is bold, but it’s also certainly quite a big experiment for EMI. The 99 cent downloads that are still DRM-protected are sort of a safety net for EMI.

This new pricing system is confusing. How much are my iTunes downloads going to cost now?
First of all, keep in mind that Apple and EMI aren’t replacing the current iTunes catalogue with the new DRM-free music. The DRM-free songs and music videos are being offered in addition to the 99 cent DRM-ed songs. This means that in addition to the USD0.99/UE0.99/79p songs, you can also get the premium versions that cost USD1.29/EU1.29/99p each. However, if you buy a whole album which usually costs USD9.99-12.99, you’ll automatically get the premium versions of the songs. They didn’t mention anything about the music videos.

I checked iTunes and I don’t find the new USD1.29 tracks anywhere!
Yup, they only go online in May. But go ahead and buy those EMI songs. You’ll be able to upgrade them by paying the difference later.

My music player still can’t play songs I bought
The DRM-free music offered by EMI comes in unprotected AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format. This means you will need a music player that can play that format.

I thought DRM-free music means I can play it on any player. Isn’t this AAC format just another type of DRM?
No, AAC is simply another type of audio format, just like there are so many video formats (MPG, MOV, AVI, DIVX, etc). AAC is an industry standard format and is supported by players by Microsoft, SanDisk and Sony and even Nokia and Sony-Ericsson phones.

In contrast with the MP3 format, which requires royalty payments on distributed content, no licenses or payments are required to be able to stream or distribute content in AAC format (Source). This is probably why Apple and EMI chose the AAC format over MP3.

So, which artistes are signed to EMI?
EMI has a portfolio of some of the world’s most popular singers and bands, including the Beatles (their songs aren’t available online, yet), Frank Sinatra, Coldplay, the Gorillaz, Korn and Red Hot Chili Peppers. You can see an exhaustive list here on Wikipedia.

How can I get an iTunes account if I’m not in the U.S.?
Hmm.. it just so happens that I wrote an article on how to date here: Set up an iTunes account in Malaysia

Update 9.30pm: added a few more questions and changed the formatting a bit.