EMI Boasts Excellent Initial DRM Free Music Sales
06.20.07 - 03:36pm
When EMI first agreed to sell DRM free music on iTunes there was much speculation as to whether there would suddenly be pirating galore but life for the music industry seems to have proceeded as normal, with the only different factor being that EMI’s DRM free music is ouselling the DRM music.
Senor VP of sales at EMI Lauren Berkowitz said, “The initial results of DRM-free music are good.”
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon took away the bank with sales up 350 percent during the week of EMI’s iTunes launch and sales are still up 272 percent since going DRM free. Along with Floyd, Norah Jones “Come Away with Me” is up 24 percent, and Coldplay’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head” is up 115 percent.
There is still speculation that the high sales are just an initial craze of people hungry for DRM free music but EMI is confident the high sales will continue. If they do it may not be too long before the other major labels hop on the DRM free bandwagon.
Why Amazon instead of Apple - Amazon is more likely to allow varied pricing giving the record labels what they want - more money. Apple has stuck to its .99 cents a download for all music irregardless of popularity, although they recently went up to $1.29 for EMI’s DRM free music. However this may still not be enough for the record labels who want control over pricing of their music.
