Finally, after years of campaigning, non-DRM‘ed music will now soon be available from the iTunes music store. I don’t particularly enjoy being a parrot yakking at old news, so I’ll leave it at that. Otherwise, you can check it out here, here, here or even here.

So that’s that. However, I want to discuss what this deal means for the future of iTunes and the music industry as a whole, and what us consumers can expect.

Tiered Pricing

Now that Apple has demonstrated that iTunes is technically capable of tiered pricing (aka charging different amounts for different things), will we see tiered pricing applied to new releases and “the old stuff”? The 4 major record labels have been negotiating and arguing for years with Apple regarding tiered pricing.
Will this happen? I say: Very Soon.

Independent Artists

Will independent artists who do not want DRM-infested music be given the choice? Remember what Steve said at the EMI presentation? 50% of all tracks to be DRM-free by the end of year. I think there is a high possibility that independent artists will be included in that 50%.
Will this happen? I say: Somewhat Later

Video DRM?

This is not likely anytime soon, but once the entire iTunes music store is DRM-free (let’s hope), I believe it will be in Apple’s interest to sell DRM-free videos as well. Unlike music, 90% of video content is distributed with DRM, so a direct apples-to-apples comparison isn’t fair.
Will this happen? I say: Much Later

Although it’s only a baby step, its a baby step in the right direction. DRM has never worked, and will never work. I myself have never bought music from iTunes because of the DRM, but now that EMI’s music is no longer “infected”, it’s time to signup and join the digital revolution.

Here’s a list of artists from EMI.