Apple’s Jobs And Nettwerk’s McBride Join The Anti-DRM Chorus

In an open letter titled "Thoughts On Music" posted on the Apple web site CEO Steve Jobs writes:

"(DRM free)This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would
embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would
license Apple their music
without the requirement that it be protected
with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our
iTunes store."

"Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others
distribute their
music without using DRM systems to protect it? The
simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to
halt music piracy.

Terry McBride of management company and label Nettwerk is no stranger to this debate:

"If they get rid of DRM, the digital space will go from specialty to big box," he said Tuesday during an executive forum in Park City, Utah.  "It will probably double the size of the digital footprint in digital…"

It is possible that particularly Job’s statements are more about posturing than a real desire to see Apple’s closed DRM system challenged.  But whatever the motivation, the chorus against DRM is becoming more difficult for the labels to ignore. 

Come on Amazon…launch that DRM free store we know you’re working on!  And will EMI or Universal be the first to crack?