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Apple + EMI: DRM-free Music Implications

Is this the beginning of a sea change, or another stab in the dark for the music industry? Whatever the case, its risky as hell: if EMI doesn’t show big gains with this move, the notion of DRM-free music will be poisoned for the rest of the labels. TechCrunch seems bullish on the concept, and with good reason:

1. EMI/Apple have put together a good “bundle of values” - no DRM and superior quality for what is in absolute terms a negligible increase in price.
2. EMI’s research indicates that even if the nuances of DRM-free music escape the average consumer, the ability to move music freely between multiple devices will not.

Ok - sounds good! There’s two questions outstanding in my mind, however.

1. Confusion: Some songs will have DRM, some won’t. Some will be moveable between devices, some won’t. Quality levels will be different. For many of us, were used to these issues already as we have a mix of naked MP3’s and DRM’d files in our iTunes library, but for those less technical, your purchasing experience and library management just got an added layer of confusion. How will consumers react to a different mix of prices, quality, and portability? Say what you will about iTunes and DRM, but the previous buying experience at least had consistency between song purchases.
2. Value Recognition: Will the average, non-technical consumer recognize the value proposition of DRM-free music? As far as they know, their songs cost 99 cents before and played fine in their iPod. Now some music is more expensive - does the marginal value exceed the marginal cost for the average, non-technical user?

Fine - neither of these are killers. But with this change, EMI and Apple need to set a powerful precedent to violently push the market in a new direction. If EMI sales stagnate because consumers don’t understand or recognize the value of DRM-free music, the whole concept will be permanently poisoned.

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