Finding DRM-Free Music Online
Mark Hendrickson
46 comments »
Over the past half year we have seen arguably the most significant change in the online music industry since Apple launched their iTunes store in 2003. Following Steve Jobs’ open letter clarifying Apple’s position on digital rights management (DRM) in Februrary, major record companies have begun providing their music online free of piracy protection mechanisms.
The first major label to take the plunge was EMI Music, which teamed up with Apple in May to release its entire online catalog through a DRM-free area of the Apple music store called iTunes Plus. Also in May, Amazon announced that it would launch an MP3-only online music store with songs from major labels by the end of the year.
Just this week, Wal-Mart began selling unprotected MP3s of many Universal Music Group and EMI songs through its website. RealNetworks, MTV, and Verizon have also teamed up to launch Rhapsody America, a music service catered toward mobile phone users that will provide DRM-free downloads, in the near future. Even LimeWare, a P2P software maker, has recently announced that it plans to be part of the DRM-free movement (this time legitimately).
Some of the major music companies have been more tentative than others. EMI has thrown the most weight into the DRM-free movement by unlocking all of its online music. While Universal has agreed to release thousands of unprotected albums and tracks through several online retailers - RealNetworks, Google, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and gBox - it has done so on a trial basis that will extend only until January 2008, at which point the company will decide whether it thinks DRM-free music boosts or hurts sales. Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are still standing on the sidelines of the DRM-free movement and appear to be waiting to see how EMI and Universal fare by opening up.
While the progression of things suggests that all online music will eventually be DRM-free, there’s no need to wait to get in on the DRM-free action. Check out the DRM-free online music retailers below to get better quality music that plays on virtually any handheld music device, on any computer, and with any music program. The retailers covered provide music from both major and minor labels.
Update: We have been informed by a RealNetworks representative that “there are no current plans for a major overhaul of Rhapsody’s store front when Rhapsody America launches” and “there are no plans to increase the number of DRM-free songs available for sale. The number will only change if Universal Music Group decides to offer more albums.” So don’t hold out for Rhapsody America, because apparently the DRM-free offering of that service will be the same as that of the current version of Rhapsody.
iTunes Plus
Apple is the eight hundred pound gorilla, controlling something like 70 to 80% of the online music retail market. CEO Steve Jobs predicted in May that over half of the songs provided through the iTunes Store would be DRM-free by the end of this year.
While most of us are familiar with the iTunes Store, you may not have noticed the discreet link to the iTunes Plus sub-store under “Quick Links” on the store’s homepage. iTunes Plus provides 256kbps DRM-free AAC files for $1.29 per song or $9.99+ per album. That’s a 30 cent per-song premium over DRM-protected songs sold through the iTunes Store.
Already bought a ton of music from Apple? You can upgrade your DRM-protected collection to DRM-free for 30 cents per song, 30% of the current album price per album, and 60 cents per music video. Of course, you’ll only be able to upgrade those songs and videos in your collection that are offered through iTunes Plus.
Artists available on iTunes Plus include Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Gorillaz, and The Beastie Boys.
WalMart
Wal-Mart may not be as sexy as Apple but the retail giant does provide DRM-free music from both Universal and EMI. On Tuesday, Wal-Mart began offering 256kbps MP3 versions of much of its music for 94 cents per track or $9.22 per album. These DRM-free offerings are in addition to Wal-Mart’s previous 128kbps DRM-protected WMA files for 88 cents per song or $9.44 per album.
One big downside to Wal-Mart’s online store: you can only download music using a Windows machine. This limitation alone will make it very difficult for Wal-Mart to compete with Apple for mind share.
Artists include Amy Winehouse, Maroon 5, Pink Floyd, Nelly, and Bon Jovi.
gBox
Feeling generous? gBox, which we covered recently, lets you buy DRM-free music not just for yourself but for others as well. gBox users can create music wishlists that can be embedded in other websites and used by friends, family, and lovers to buy music for the list creator.
Universal is the one major label that has agreed to sell music DRM-free through gBox. Songs are 99 cents each and albums are $9.99 each.
Unfortunately, as with Wal-Mart, Mac users who would like to download from gBox are out of luck. This will put a damper on gBox’s otherwise highly viral business strategy of allowing wishlists to be embedded in social networks.
eMusic
You may not have heard of eMusic but the service, with over 2.5 million songs available, is second only to iTunes when it comes to online music sales. Founded in 1998, eMusic was the first company to sell MP3s, which it continues to do on a subscription, rather than per-unit, basis.
Subscriptions come in two flavors: $9.99 per month for up to 30 downloads per month, or $19.99 per month for up to 75 downloads per month. The coolest thing about their subscriptions: once they end, you still get to keep your music, unlike with other subscription services such as Napster. New users also get 25 songs for free.
While eMusic has a long tradition of selling DRM-free music, they still have yet to get in on any major label action. You won’t find any music from Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, or Warner here. But if you eschew popular music anyway, eMusic could be perfect for you.
Audio Lunchbox
If you like eMusic, you’ll probably like Audio Lunchbox as well. The company’s more than 2 million songs are DRM-free and completely indie.
Customers can choose to pay for their music on a subscription or per-unit basis.
Subscriptions range from $9.99 per month to $250 per year. On a per-unit basis, songs are 99 cents each and albums are $9.99 each.
All downloads are 192kbps VBR MP3 files.
AmieStreet
AmieStreet, which we have covered many times, like eMusic and Audio Lunchbox provides DRM-free songs from artists without major label contracts (although, AmieStreet has teamed up with Nettwerk Productions to provide music from big names like Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan).
The most interesting thing about AmieStreet is its pricing scheme. Tracks individually cost anywhere between 0 and 98 cents. Music offered on the website starts off free but goes up in price as more people download it. Therefore, the price reflects the actual popularity of the track in a similar spirit to an auction.
The tracks sold on AmieStreet are always in MP3 format, but the bit rate can vary as artists contribute songs directly to the website.
Nice post… If you ever do a follow-up, I would be really curious as to what the current market share of DRM-free downloads is in the music download business and how fast it is growing.
I think there’s no doubt that this trend towards DRM-free music, that is compatible with all portable players, will continue.
don’t forget Oink.
“The most interesting thing about AmieStreet is its pricing. Songs can be purchased for any amount between 0 and 98 cents. Music offered on the website starts off free but goes up in price as more people download it.”
Wrong strategy..That means I will have to shell out more for old songs that are naturally downloaded many more times than new ones..In effect, I will get new releases at dead cheap prices, and sell them for dirt when the demand grows and the price of the download grows too…
Ten years later… the majors are finally giving in.
Better late than never I suppose… !
“The most interesting thing about AmieStreet is its pricing. Songs can be purchased for any amount between 0 and 98 cents. Music offered on the website starts off free but goes up in price as more people download it.”
Wrong strategy..That means I will have to shell out more for old songs that are naturally downloaded many more times than new ones..In effect, I will get new releases at dead cheap prices, and sell them for dirt when the demand grows and the price of the download grows too…
Uh…. your info regarding iTunes Plus is incorrect.
128kbps AAC is still $0.99.
256kbps AAC is $1.29.
#6 - TimD: Oops, thanks for the correction.
Don’t forget about Bleep.com. High quality DRM free MP3’s and even FLAC!
http://bleep.com/
Also,
small non-profit, copyright free, public domain music:
http://www.musopen.com
Isn’t it true that more people use iTunes on Windows machines than on Macs? If that’s the case, then how does the Wal-Mart stores Windows-only requirement “make it very difficult for Wal-Mart to compete with Apple for mind share”? Is it just the fact that you’d have to buy the songs and then import them into iTunes?
It continues to amaze me how much music is not available yet thru the legit outlets…DRM or not. Anyone ever try to buy Stairway to Heaven? Can’t do it.
I prefer finding new high-quality stuff from lesser-known indie artists who aren’t hamstrung by labels with hyper-controlling execs who are afraid of losing control.
This one is a nice little portal to several DRM-free sites in various genres: http://freeemusicgroup.com
(I say “import them into iTunes,” of course, because I assume part of the “limitation” of mind-share is that there are millions of iPod users and they would want to get their Wal-Mart-bought songs onto their iPods.)
I have been able to download mp3’s from Walmart without using their windows downloader by going to http://musicdownloads.walmart......aryServlet . I don’t remember how I ended up there in the first place, and I have not found a link to it from any other Walmart pages, but going directly to that URL does work.
eMusic is roughly $.25 per track for 192kbps. What’s frustrating me about people is that if people really believed in this, if they really wanted to ’support DRM-free’ music, eMusic wouldn’t need people to be reminded it exists.
Instead of people just taking a minute to find an actual DRM-free source of music, they generally download and steal works and justify it in their minds as a force for change. It’s as childish a thought process as I can imagine.
Anyway, eMusic continues to rock.
If you’re looking for a place where artists sign up themselves, get the choice of whether or not to charge for their songs and receive a flat royalty direct to their pocket, you should check out TuneShout. They have some good stuff…
http://www.tuneshout.com
One important note about Walmart downloads is that, much like the brick and mortar locations, the majority of music with lyrics that Walmart objects to are edited tracks. This is quite a turn off to most music lovers.
Not to get too far off topic, but how many of us actually believe Steve Jobs’ DRM-free music schpiel? I did, until I got my iPhone and realized that I could no longer hook it up to other machines and drag and drop tunes onto it from iTunes, like I can do with any other previous iPod…
I stumbled upon that limitation just like most who argue against DRM-encoded music: I was just trying to put music from more than one of my own machines onto my iPhone. Couldn’t do it.
Was that a technical limitation of the iPhone (touted as the ‘best iPod yet’), or is that simply closing a music-sharing loophole? If the latter, so much for a belief in free music sharing, and doing away with DRM…
Just a thought.
Why DRM is a big yawn:
1. Burn your DRM-encoded file from iTunes onto a CD-RW.
2. Rip the CD back into a digital music file.
3. Your new files are DRM-free.
4. Replace your iTunes-downloaded files with your new files.
5. Format your CD-RW and use it again for the next conversion.
eMusic is good, but last I checked their selection was just too small.
Mark,
Just fyi, there’s a difference between EMI Music, which is the recorded music division of the EMI Group, and EMI Music Publishing. This was an EMI Music move. A master licensed by EMI Music might have an underlying composition copyright owned by, say, BMG Music Publishing.
As for Mr. Lucas and DRM being a “yawn” -it is, but not because you can burn your DRM’d tracks to a CD and rip them back- you just end up with degraded quality. The easy way to get DRM-free music with fewer steps is, rather than buying an album online, to buy the CD and rip it. (Of course, if you only want one song, you are out of luck and will probably be heading P2Pwards…..)
DRM is one of the stupidest constructs ever- the above being one reason why- and it will eventually go away.
BTW- can anyone from eMusic tell me how much of their vaunted “#2 sales” are actually from all those giveaways they do in the pages of WIRED et al? If eMusic is selling that much, why are their overall numbers not better? I am genuinely curious here- not trying to be mean.
#20 - Elizabeth: Thanks for pointing that distinction out; I would never have caught it =). I’ll update the post to reflect it.
RE: Wal-Mart being Windows only….
They had to design the original webapp for IE only as a way to make Windows DRM more transparent.
I’ll give them credit for that… they were just playing by the ‘rules’, but still trying to give their customers the best possible user experience… given the tools MS provided with it’s DRM. (which were crap.)
Now that the rules are starting to change, I’m sure you’ll see their webapp compatible with Mac soon enough.
#8 huphtur…..I like bleep.com a lot too
Wal-Mart + Windows = no way.
@Anand,
It’s not wrong strategy. In fact, what you just said validates their strategy. Not all people will be suckers like you trying to con the general public and secondly, since it is DRM free and that people like to support their indie artist, why would they buy from you?
On the other hand, if the song doesn’t take off, you are stuck with the cost.
Next time, think before you speak.
And finally, don’t tell me that NITIE is the same as IIT and IIM - please, don’t lie to the world! It’s a third grade school that every one who doesn’t get into IIM goes into.
@Anand,
You mention on your LinkedIn that BITS (Birla Institute of Technology) is like IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)??
WHAT???
That’s like saying Geo Prizm is like Mercedes S-Class!
@booboy
Nothing related to this article here..But just to shut booboy out., dude - try to atleast come up with your real name or give your URL..Dont play spammer here..
And no need to prove you spammer wrong, but just to clarify..NITIE “IS” one of the 15 centers of excellence identified by the government of India along with the IITs and IIMs..If you did not know that, go yell at your own ‘placecom’..
For the rankings, you may wish to search for Bschool and Tech School rankings on any of the popular publications like Outlook or Dataquest if you are really interested.peace
———————–
Sorry for digressing from the topic. My apologies..
Not all music stores are created equal. I continue to find the iTunes experience more compelling than any other music download store available, as it combines great usability and content selection. I suspect that Universal will eventually add its DRM-free music to iTunes. It’s just a matter of time.
I would place gBox at the bottom of the list. The user experience is terribly confusing and there is a very limited selection of DRM-free tracks. The most disappointed part of gBox is the distracting ads and pop-under ads. I can not remember the last time I went to a reputable site that served pop-under ads.
I look forward to the day where Amazon and iTunes start offering a wishlist that can easily be placed on MySpace and Friendster.
For anyone looking for some great electronic music, check out Beatport. These guys are leading the industry for electronic (dance) music. Beatport’s app-like flash GUI is top-notch…
http://www.beatport.com
Linux and Mac users should be able to download music from walmart through this link
http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/
When “checking out” you must download songs individually.
There’s also a search engine to find DRM-free music:
http://www.drmfree.org/
The question to ask about Amie St.: does the price go down as the track looses popularity? I think they have a great concept of putting the emphasis on promoting new music. They have a social networking scheme combined with a rewards scheme to help accomplish this. They strike a balance between pricing new bands out of the market, and pricing the more popular bands well below their real market value.
Emusic is still my primary means of digital downloads. One thing about Emusic is if you’re willing to dig a little you’ll never run out of things to download. It’s certainly not for people who feel they should only pay for the tried tested and true.
Don’t forget http://www.akuma.de with about 600.000 MP3s. (German users only right now)
dont forget
I’m already discussing DRM free music for a while in my blog and consider this the first small step to free music. Thanks for the researches and comparison between digital shops.
Didn’t see http://www.mTraks.com mentioned in any of the comments. Apparently, it’s one of the fastest growing DRM free sites online. Close to a million 192bps mp3’s that you can buy a la carte without having to sign up for a subscription (though if you do, it’s as little as 27cents a song)
Looks like mTraks just added a thing where you get 30 songs for free when you sign up……AFTER I already did. Hmph.
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Thanks to The Creative Commons license, a whole new generation of artists put their music for free on the web, just for the cause of music, not for big money.
This DRM discussion is about paing off Madonna’s third swimming pool.
FreeIndie.Com is the best place to find drm free music