In a major digital music announcement Warner Music last night made its music available free of DRM in Europe - but not on iTunes.
Warner and other major labels continue to drum up interest in legal digital music service other than iTunes in an attempt to boost their hand in convincing Apple to move away from its fixed price format for music.
This industry in-fighting has been good news for UK digital music service, 7 Digital, which is now the first European service to offer Warner Music’s catalogue DRM-free through its stores in the UK, Ireland, Spain, France and Germany. Warner already offers DRM-free content to US audiences through Amazon’s MP3 store.
iPod users needn’t worry - they can take advantage of 7 Digital’s launch offer, in which selected Warner Music albums are being sold in MP3 format for £5 each.
The race is now on in the UK, with 7 Digital now edging ahead of Apple’s iTunes Plus service in offering tracks free
