We’ve been watching Napster’s decline for some time, but now the company is fighting back with the introduction of a new download service that takes the market wars to Apple - because it’s made a move to drop DRM..
Napster has announced that all six million tracks it sells through its music service will from now on be available in DRM-free MP3 format, (256kbps bitrate). This means each 99-cents track will play on any device, including Macs, iPods and the iPhone.
What’s also significant here is that all the major labels have signed up to offer their catalogue through the Napster DRM-free service: EMI, Universal, Warners, and Sony BMG have all agreed to sell tracks free of rights-restriction. Having the majors on board means Napster is declaring that its service offers 50 per cent more DRM-free tra
