Thanks to Quakester2000 we know that Warp Records, an independent electronic U.K. music label, has launched a music store called Bleep. What's special about the store is that its entire catalog is unencumbered by any DRM restrictions. The price of the individual songs is a little higher than other online music stores but the quality of the songs is much better and, as said, after you buy the song you're completely free to do with it what you want.
"At the moment labels have skirted around the whole issue of making their catalogue available, often introducing various poorly-supported formats and DRM (digital rights management) complications in the process. We wanted to be the first to take a big step in what we believe is a positive direction, and see what happens," the company says in its FAQ. While pioneer online music services such as Emusic offered DRM-free music at a low bit rate they were thwarted by the major labels' reluctance to open their back catalogs. Meanwhile, the computer industry, albeit at times with some reluctance, generally stood fast against Hollywood-driven demands that personal computers cripple legitimate users' rights. |
I personally think this is a very good development and hopefully other online music stores will soon follow. Who wants DRM restrictions on songs they purchased? I certainly don't. You can read the complete article here. The Bleep music store can be found via www.bleep.com.
Source: The Register