"In a move that could signal a shift in the music industry's antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC has been holding talks with several online retailers about the possibility of selling its entire digital music catalog in the unprotected MP3 format, which can be freely copied and played on virtually any device, according to numerous people familiar with the matter," reports The Wall Street Journal [paid sub required].
The London-based EMI is believed to have held talks with a wide range of online retailers that compete with Apple's iTunes. Those competing retailers include RealNetworks Inc., eMusic.com, MusicNet Inc. and Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks. People familiar with the matter cautioned that EMI could still abandon the proposed strategy before implementing it. A decision about whether to keep pursuing the idea could come as soon as today.
An EMI spokeswoman declined to comment on what she called "speculation."
EMI owns The Beatles, of course.
AP has a version of the story.
It's been suggested in the trade that Steve Jobs's sudden U-turn on DRM was prompted by EMI's moves, which started in December. However, according to the WSJ, "a person familiar with the matter said Mr Jobs began work on the essay three weeks ago in response to actions by European agencies to pressure Apple into making its music products work with hardware and online music service made by other companies."
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