New sources
are saying that Universal is in serious discussions about a large DRM-free experiment at iTunes. We’ve been reporting the same chatter about the Vivendi owned label group from other download stores for weeks and hear that the experiment will extend beyind iTunes. But now the talks seem to be getting serious.
In fact, we hear that the desire to drop DRM at Universal comes from the very top of the company.
New watermarking strategies seem to be creating some comfort level for fearful executives at many companies. Of course, EMI has already set its catalog free and WMG is experimenting with LaLa. Most indies have already dropped copy protection or admit to be doing so soon. Even the major owned indie distributors are following Caroline’s lead and encouraging their distributed labels to untether their tracks.
This leaves only SonyBMG standing on the sidelines waiting to see what the future holds instead of working to create it.
