EMI goes DRM free

[ztirffritz]

http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2007/press18.htm

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/02itunes.html

**edit** Oops. I didn't see the post below.

[ztirffritz]

I think that it is really cool that Apple is sticking with AAC though. AAC format is freely available, unlike MP3 which must be licensed. AAC is also higher quality than MP3, especially at 256kbps.

[elmo3]

How many AAC players are out there?

AAC is, for all intents and purposes, a proprietary, closed format owned by Apple--no matter how "freely" they CURRENTLY make it available. It's no different than any of the "freely available" Microsoft proprietary technologies that you all love to hate.

MP3 is everywhere, Anything can play an MP3.

No thanks. I'll take MP3, in order that my music is TRULY available to me anywhere on anything.

[Sam3]

Only available in May. :igh:: I was excited about seeing what was available, what to spend my extra $0.30 on, alas, I shall have to wait.

[ztirffritz]

I don't think that AAC licensing involves Apple in any way:

http://www.vialicensing.com/Licensing/MP...=MPEG-4AAC

I think that it was another product for Fraunhofer labs, the original producer of the MP3 standard. MP3 is part of the MPEG-1 standard. AAC is part of MPEG-2,3 and 4. AAC is an ISO standard. MP3 is simply a defacto standard.

[elmo3]

MP3 is simply a defacto standard.

Exactly. Works fine, lasts long time.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

The last thing I need is some marketing staff jamming their "message" down my throat, to meet their own goals.

[mikebw]

So I take it sound quality and file size are not your primary concerns? If so, that's fine with me, but consider if the AAC files are in fact DRM free you can use Apple's FREE iTunes program to convert them to MP3 very easily. Then you can do what you want with them.

All the music I listen to comes from my G5, my iPod, a G3 at my friend's house, or a CD player. None of those will have any problem playing an AAC file straight up, or one converted when I burn a CD.

[deckeda]

Let's stick with MP3s, and Windows, for the very same reasons. Ubiquitous and "good enough." Sorry, but no thanks.


Any decent portable player, and a few crappy ones, play AAC files. And any PC running Win2K-on and recent versions of OS X Macs play AAC files. The best, most compatible video container file format (MPEG4) embraces AAC. I've run out of reasons and don't see why I'd need any more.

[Spock]

If Sellar & Yeateman were to write the History of Digital Music this would undoubtedly be categorized as " a good thing".

[Joey Cupcakes]

[quote elmo3]

MP3 is simply a defacto standard.

Exactly. Works fine, lasts long time.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.
And just because it's a "defacto standard" doesn't mean it ain't broken. Windows is a "defacto standard." Hell, for a very large consumer group, Instamatic Cameras were a "defacto standard."

But no one's saying you can't go ahead and continue to buy lossy music with format licensing issues, if that's your choice.

[quote elmo3]The last thing I need is some marketing staff jamming their "message" down my throat, to meet their own goals.
???????

On second thought, don't answer that.