It’s another hammer-blow for common sense in the war against locked-down music, as Universal begins selling tracks at higher quality, and without copy protection too.
Selling through online store 7digital, Universal’s music now comes in 320k quality and without any DRM at all. It means you’ll be able to play the songs on any device you like, as well as enjoying better quality sound than before.
Interestingly, Universal hasn’t officially announced the tracks’ availability, but they’re there, ready to download whenever you like.
It’s likely that Universal’s keeping it on the down-low because it’s failed to reach an agreement for the same content to be sold through Apple’s iTunes Plus service.
However, the musical mavens at Distorted Loop point out there’s a massive trade in DRM-free music. “7digital recently announced booming sales since the introduction of DRM-free tracks from Warner Music,” Distorted Loop explains. “Sales increased 300% in 2008 fuelled by the Warner Music DRM-free MP3 catalogue becoming available for the first time in the UK and Europe.”
It’s easy to see why Universal wants a piece of the pie, and since the tracks are DRM free, you don’t need to buy them through iTunes for them to work on your iPod.
Out now | £varies | Universal, 7digital (via Distorted Loop)
