Apple drops copy protection from iTunes | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Apple drops DRM copy protection from millions of iTunes songs

The millions of songs available for download from Apple will no longer be tied only to iPods and customers will be able to transfer their tracks freely.

Apple today announced that its entire iTunes music catalogue will soon be available without any copy protection, after agreeing a new deal with the world's major record labels.

The move means customers will soon be able to buy songs via iTunes – the world's dominant digital music retailer – without being locked into using an iPod.

Music fans will be able to buy tracks without digital rights management (DRM) from iTunes and easily transfer them between computers, many different brands of music player or even onto their mobile phones.

Later this year, Apple said, the company will add a further 8m new unprotected tracks to iTunes, and shortly afterwards expects its entire library to follow suit.

"By the end of the quarter all 10 million songs will be DRM free in iTunes and iTunes plus," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.

DRM was originally designed to prevent downloaders from sharing files illegally, but it has become a divisive issue.

Customers can already download some unprotected files from iTunes, and from other retailers, but the news marks a significant shift for Apple. It has struggled to convince the record labels to agree to drop DRM for iTunes downloads in a power struggle over who controls the future of the music industry.

The plan to drop copy protection was accompanied by the news that Apple would also allow variable pricing for the first time – meaning tracks could be sold for prices other than the standard 79p. In the UK, tracks will be available for 59p, 79p and 99p.

The move is thought to have been part of a deal to convince the major record labels to offer their music libraries for sale without copy protection mechanisms. Until now Apple has refused to incorporate pricing flexibility, but it is thought that the music industry's increasing support for competitors such as online retailer Amazon's MP3 store helped it change its mind.

According to the usually furious rumour mill surrounding Apple announcements, the company's final keynote address at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco had all the hallmarks of being a damp squib. Early speculation had focused instead on the health of its talismanic chief executive, rather than the products that the company might unveil.

But even without the presence of Steve Jobs – who finally admitted yesterday to health problems caused by his cancer surgery – Apple did its best to please fans today, with a slew of new products and services.

The task of delivering Apple's valedictory address fell to Schiller, who started off by thanking the audience for their presence. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all showing up," he joked.

Among the other announcements were an updated 17-inch MacBook Pro laptop and new versions of the company's iLife and iWork software.

The new MacBook Pro was widely expected following updates to the company's smaller models late last year, and will go on sale starting at $2,799 (£1,900).

It claims to be the world's thinnest and lightest 17in laptop, with a larger built-in battery that can hold up to 8 hours of charge.

Updates to iLife, due at the end of this month, include a new version of iPhoto incorporating face recognition, an improved version of iMovie, and the addition of downloadable music lessons to Garageband, featuring artists including Sting and Norah Jones.

Schiller also announced a beta version of iWork.com, an online document sharing service, intended to compete with Google Docs, Microsoft Office Live and others.

The crowd, famous for whooping with excitement at every utterance from Jobs, did their best to recreate the traditional atmosphere – but things were noticeably subdued compared to the usual furore of Apple's January announcements.

In comparison to previous years – which have seen the unveiling of the iMac, iBook, iPod mini and iPhone – this year's address was devoid of significant breakthrough.

Many of the products predicted by analysts and industry observers – including a low-cost Apple laptop and a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone – failed to materialise.

A small group of fans queued overnight to make sure they got places inside San Francisco's Moscone Center, but there was little sign of the enormous lines and crowds that usually mark the occasion.

Apple's decision to end its involvement with the conference , which is organised by an independent company, IDG, left many preparing themselves for the eventual death of the 24-year-old expo – despite insistences from the organisers that there would be "many successful years of Macworld to come".

"This is my first Macworld and possibly my last, because if Apple's not presenting then it's not necessarily 100% worth it to make the trip all the way down here," said Nik Lensander from Santa Barbara, California, who was the first in the queue.

Apple's legion of obsessive followers, however, still regretted that there was no surprise appearance from Jobs.

"I actually made plans to come here to watch him, and when I found out he wasn't I was disappointed," said Alex Lee, who travelled from Dubai to attend. "However, life moves on."

Thanks LD good looking out.

Anything that sees less of DRM has to be a good thing in my book. A smart move by Amazon, though the mp3 download service has only recently become available in the UK and not everything they have on CD is available in mp3 format yet.

The other thing that iTunes will need to address (if they haven't already) is the quality of the mp3s they sell - they use too low a compression rate which makes the sound even worse given the limitations of the format compared to CD audio. Amazon's mp3s (and those of other music e-tailers like emusic) are much better in that respect, and the download software is miniscule compared to iTunes. And there are plenty more sellers that are cheaper.

Never been an iTunes user, and this move doesn't change my mind towards becoming one.