Yahoo! Music to Experiment with DRM Free content

After sites like Movielink and CinemaNow, it’s now Yahoo! Music’s turn to sell content on their site without DRM protection. Yahoo!Music will sell a Jessica Simpson single called ‘A Public Affair’ in open MP3 format, making it compatible with all music players. However, the song is priced at $1.99 as opposed to the regular 99-cent standard set by iTunes, thanks to the gimmick that “personalizes” the song by incorporating the downloader’s name into it. The move to sell off content online without DRM protection is a first for Yahoo! Music. The site’s official blog calls this “experiment” a trend setter and foresees a future with many more unprotected MP3 releases by big music labels. An excerpt from ymusicblog.com: _“As you know, we’ve been publicly trying to convince record labels that they should be selling MP3s for a while now. Our position is simple: DRM doesn’t add any value for the artist, label … or consumer. The only people it adds value to are the technology companies who are interested in locking consumers to a particular technology platform."_Meanwhile, rivals are watching the experiment closely, for consumer reaction and profit. Although unprotected MP3 files have been legally shared via eMusic from independent music labels, Yahoo!Music is now making a conscious effort to promote DRM free music online, appealing to major record labels.