Apple's head honcho, Steve Jobs, has called on the major players in the recording industry to begin selling music online without DRM.
Jobs claimed that DRM had failed to tackle the problem of piracy and the abolition of it would be good for both the consumers and the music suppliers.
Apple has had a stranglehold on the digital music market with thanks to iPod and the iTunes music store, both of which currently use DRM to protect content.
The company has come under increasing pressure to allow competing music players to use iTunes and has even come under attack from consumer rights groups in several European countries because of the incompatibilities.
"In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," said Jobs in a statement.
Jobs highlighted the fact that music companies already sell almost 90% of their music DRM-free on CDs. He also pointed out that there is no sign of this behaviour changing, because the majority of CD players don't support DRM. Ultimately, CD sales are what the recording industry relies on for most of its revenue.
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Jobs claimed that DRM had failed to tackle the problem of piracy and the abolition of it would be good for both the consumers and the music suppliers.
Apple has had a stranglehold on the digital music market with thanks to iPod and the iTunes music store, both of which currently use DRM to protect content.
The company has come under increasing pressure to allow competing music players to use iTunes and has even come under attack from consumer rights groups in several European countries because of the incompatibilities.
"In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," said Jobs in a statement.
Jobs highlighted the fact that music companies already sell almost 90% of their music DRM-free on CDs. He also pointed out that there is no sign of this behaviour changing, because the majority of CD players don't support DRM. Ultimately, CD sales are what the recording industry relies on for most of its revenue.
Discuss in the forums
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