Lots of Good Apple, But A Rotten Apple Spoils the Barrel

Apple recently made a deal with EMI (one of the four major record labels) to offer DRM-free music from their catalog via the iTunes store. This means that there won’t be any limitations on EMI music (shocking, I know—music that you purchase legally you can actually use in whatever way you want, as if you had bought the CD.) This was a good move for Apple, giving the consumers what they want and making legally purchased music have the same DRM-freeness as illegally downloaded music. But Apple’s mistake comes with the decision to charge $1.29 for the DRM-free track and offer this premium version for download alongside the $.99 standard version, which still has DRM. The reason why so many consumers download music illegally is the price. At almost a dollar per song, music can get pretty pricey. Consumers are barely willing to pay .$99, and by charging even more for DRM-free music, Apple is spoiling the entire deal. Consumers will not be willing to pay $1.29. Some claim that the higher quality of the $1.29 songs is enough for some people, but for me at least I generally listen to music via my iPod or my computer speakers (not the best sound quality at all, simply because of the speakers.) The upgrade in quality probably wouldn’t even be noticeable at all.

Apple definitely did a good thing by breaking its boundaries and allowing the sales of DRM-free music. It is a good idea. But they must not charge us more for something which we already claim is too expensive—it’s just poor business. If Steve Jobs were to get rid of the DRM versions of songs completely and just sell DRM-free tracks at $.99, I think that both iTunes and EMI would see rewards, and this would encourage other labels to jump on the DRM-free bandwagon.