EMI Group To Sell Catalog on iTunes Without DRM Protection

In what is expected to be a groundbreaking announcement today, music company EMI Group plans to announce the sale of large parts of its music catalog today to Apple's iTunes store, without the digital rights management [DRM] software that prevents buyers from illegally sharing their music over the internet. The move comes in the midst of a growing debate within the music world over the best strategy to recoup falling record sales. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has urged the music industry to drop its insistence on selling digital music with DRM software attached, arguing the software has been ineffective at combating digital piracy since most music is still bought on unprotected CDs. EMI also plans to sell its music on other labels. Sources in the know say the one major exception to EMI's music sales will be the Beatles catalog, which it has no plans to release as of yet.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Reuters, L.A. Times, AP
Commentary: Is Apple iTunes Setting CD Prices? - Seeking Alpha • EMI Group Goes the MP3 Route • Financial Impact of Baidu-EMI Partnership Difficult To Assess; Likely Positive
Stocks/ETFs to watch: EMI Group plc (EMIPY.PK), Apple (AAPL). Competitors: Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG), Sony (SNE), Digital Music Group (DMGI), Napster, Inc. (NAPS). ETFs: Internet Architecture HOLDRS (IAH)

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