Apple said in deals for all DRM-free iTunes, 3G downloads
AppleInsider — ... Published: 09:55 PM EST In what could be a significant victory for its online music store, Apple is claimed to have landed agreements not only to remove copy protection from the music of all major labels but to allow direct music downloads to iPhones over cellular networks. The deal mentioned by alleged sources of CNET would have Apple break its longtime insistence on a fixed per-track rate for songs and give in to ...

Apple inks deals for all DRM-free iTunes, 3G downloads
AppleInsider — ... Published: 09:55 PM EST In what could be a significant victory for its online music store, Apple is believed to have landed agreements not only to remove copy protection from the music of all major labels but to also allow direct music downloads to iPhones over cellular networks. The deal reported by sources speaking to CNET News.com would see Apple break its longtime insistence on a fixed per-track rate for songs and give in to ...

Report: Apple’s iTunes Store to go DRM-free, offer labels more flexible pricing
MacDailyNews — ... to one source. Before iTunes users get too worked up, they should remember that song prices at iTunes haven't increased in five years. According to the Consumer Price Index, a 99-cent song in 2002 would be worth $1.17 today." "Apple and the music labels have also apparently come to terms on over-the-air downloads, according to a source. That would allow iPhone owners to download songs to their mobile devices via cell networks," Sandoval reports. More info in the full article here . [Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "James W." for the heads up.] ...

Daily Apple: yellowsn0w, 28″, iGlove, Broken Record, DRM Deal [TheAppleBlog]
GigaOM Network — ... Less DRM, New Pricing Structure Rumored for iTunes Store - CNET is reporting, based on information gathered from a “source” close to negotiations between Apple and major music labels, that more DRM free tracks will be coming to iTunes. The deal also involves the introduction of an alternate pricing structure for the iTunes store that allows for three levels of pricing. ...

Apple finally drops DRM on iTunes music, OTA 3G music downloads?
Boy Genius Report — Apple has dropped DRM from iTunes, according to various reports. While we’ve been waiting for this for a pretty long ass time, it’s said that the actual deal was only inked in the last week or so. What does this mean for you if Apple actually announces this tomorrow? Well, for starters, older music would drop to $0.79/song, but this would open the possibility of pricing current “hits” for more than $0.99. Most likely $1.99, if we had to guess. The good news is that any new music would be DRM-free out of the gate, with the older titles ...

iTunes Rumored to be Dropping DRM; Jacking Up Pop Music Prices
Mashable! — ... On the eve of Macworld, one hot rumor making the rounds is that Apple is set to announce a deal with three of the major record labels to make all tracks on iTunes DRM-free. In exchange, the service would introduce more variable pricing on music, with current hit songs carrying a higher price than older and less popular music. ...

‘CNET’: Apple to expand DRM-free music
Macsimum News — ... Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of copy protection software from the three largest music labels, according to two sources close to the negotiations, reports CNET. In exchange, Apple has agreed to become more flexible on pricing, the sources said. ...

Apple ditching DRM? 3G iTunes downloads?
CrunchGear — ... It seems that Apple has cut a deal with music labels to remove DRM. This might come at a cost though. Songs will now supposedly be sold at variable prices with newer songs and hits selling above the usual 99¢ price and older songs selling for as low as 79¢. ...

iTunes Goes DRM-Free, Gets More Expensive…and Gets Cheaper?
Technologizer — ... , but it seems inevitable: CNET is reporting that Apple has hammered out a deal to sell DRM-free music from Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner , joining EMI’s iTunes Plus DRM-less music in the iTunes Store. The agreement would finally give Apple DRM-free music from all the major labels–something it really needs given that Amazon.com and most other major purveyors of music downloads have lost the copy protection. Amazon.com also undercuts Apple’s pricing on many tracks; CNET reports that Apple’s deal with the labels will force it to drop its flat 99-cent fee in favor of variable ...

iTunes’ DRM-free collection: Sony BMG, Universal and Warner to join in
TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home — ... The good news is in a CNET story. Significantly, the three studios used the lack of DRM to gain a bit more price leverage. A lesson for book publishers dealing with Amazon? DRM isn’t just toxic for sales: it’s bad for pricing since shoppers are renting rather than buying. ...

Linkpost | 1.6.2009
TechBlog — ... - In advance of Macworld keynote, and without actually knowing what Apple's going to offer, Microsoft's already calling the new Macs overpriced. • Sources: Apple to expand DRM-free music, new pricing - Has deals with three big labels, according to sources. • ...

Last Minute Macworld 2009 Rumors and Predictions
I4U News — ... as much as possible. On the hardware side I am not sure if we see that much new stuff as Apple is changing into a full own event driven mode in 2009. Still, I imagine that Apple is really going to announce a new iMac, 17 inch unibody MacBook Pro and a new Mac mini as these should have been updated already in last fall. A new rumor talks about Apple expanding their DRM free music offering according to CNet . This would be a nice move giving consumers more flexibility on where to play purchased music. Another last minute rumor hopes for a ...

Macworld Guessing: iPhone Tethering, iTunes Goes DRM-Free
Today @ PC World — ... around the Macworld Expo this week, say that Apple will announce a 5GB data cap, $30-a-month (on top of your existing AT&T iPhone price plan) iPhone-as-modem feature, so that users can connect from their laptops to the Internet via their iPhone. The expected price plan could be quite expensive on top of the usual iPhone data plan, however, it is cheaper than an EV-DO or HSDPA card plan, usually around $60-a-month. In related news, it is also rumored that Apple will offer all songs from the ...

iTunes About To Go DRM-Free
RIMarkable — According to CNET, Apple iTunes is about to go DRM-free and it could be officially announced as early as today at MacWorld. There is probably going to be a price increase in hit music titles, as the big three labels have forced convinced Apple to be flexible on pricing going forward. Read…

iTunes Drops Most Copy Protection, Varies Prices [ITunes Store]
Lifehacker — ... . The good news: CNET has sources saying the three largest music labels will allow Apple to offer music downloads free of copy-protection. And the bad news might not be that bad. In exchange for the DRM-free tracks, Apple will reportedly allow labels to push three tiers of pricing. Older songs from the archives will likely get cheaper than 99 cents, songs that are newer and "midline" (i.e. not big hits) will inhabit the familiar 99 cent mark, and newer, bigger hits will fetch higher, unnamed dollar amounts. If announced at the Macworld conference today which our ...

iTunes to Drop Most Copy Protection, Vary Prices [ITunes Music Store]
Lifehacker — [image] The good news: CNET has sources saying the three largest music labels will allow Apple to offer music downloads free of copy-protection. And the bad news might not be that bad. In exchange for the DRM-free tracks, Apple will reportedly allow labels to push three tiers of pricing. Older songs from the archives will likely get cheaper than 99 cents, songs that are newer and "midline" (i.e. not big hits) will inhabit the familiar 99 cent mark, and newer, bigger hits will fetch higher, unnamed dollar amounts. If announced at the Macworld conference today which our ...

iTunes May Drop Most Copy Protection, Vary Prices [ITunes Music Store]
Lifehacker — [image] The good news: CNET has sources saying the three largest music labels will allow Apple to offer music downloads free of copy-protection. And the bad news might not be that bad. In exchange for the DRM-free tracks, Apple will reportedly allow labels to push three tiers of pricing. Older songs from the archives will likely get cheaper than 99 cents, songs that are newer and "midline" (i.e. not big hits) will inhabit the familiar 99 cent mark, and newer, bigger hits will fetch higher, unnamed dollar amounts. If announced at the Macworld conference today which our ...

Today's entertainment: First Jobs-free keynote since 1996
TechBlog — ... and bigger storage, up to a terabyte. • Schiller may announce that there will be more DRM-free music in the iTunes store, thanks to new deals with music labels, and possibly cheaper prices for catalog music, down to 79 cents. • A smaller, cheaper iPhone Nano, if it's announced today, likely won't be available until later this year, ...

How To Watch Today's Macworld Keynote Live (AAPL)
Silicon Alley Insider — ... A last minute CNET report suggests more DRM-free music could be coming to iTunes and that iPhones will finally be able to download music over the cellular data network. ...

Live Blog: Previewing the Apple Keynote Speech at Macworld
Bits — ... iMacs, with Nvidia chips for sharper graphics and video, and perhaps a lower price to make Apple’s line of desktop computers more appealing to the frugal masses in a deep recession year. We will no doubt hear about upgrades to Apple’s Mac OS X operating system, and perhaps to its somewhat disregarded television set-top box, AppleTV. Could we see new deals with the major music labels to put unprotected music files on iTunes and allow direct, over-the-air downloads to the iPhone? Some think so . And how about that elusive ...

Report: iTunes Drops Pricing Demand To Gain DRM-Free Songs
Cult of Mac — ... Itunes fans may soon be able to purchase more songs free of copy-protections, the result of a reported break-through in negotiations with music publishers. According to CNET, the changes could be announced as soon as Tuesday at Macworld Expo 2009 in San Francisco, Calif. Apple reportedly has agreed to adopt a three-tier pricing plan, shifting from its previous demand for all songs to be sold for a single price. The change will allow Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music to charge more for popular titles, according to sources sited by ...

BREAKING: Apple iTMS To Go DRM-free
GEARFUSE — [image] Stop the presses! Hold the phone! Did you hear? Apple is getting rid of DRM ! Yay! This is so awesome! Know why? Because, ah…. Uh….hmm. Mrrr…rzp? Yeah, nevermind. Nobody buys music anyway and those who do probably don’t give a shit about DRM. Big whoop. Apple will most likely announce some kind of pricing scheme deal as well during Macworld. Record labels. You get the idea here. Too bad they won’t be announcing the Macbook Wheel anytime soon. Link

News Bits: Macworld Keynote - Will It Be a Surprise or Disappointment?
Contentinople: — Today at noon, eastern time, Apple SVP of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller (a.k.a. "Not Steve Jobs") will take the stage for the Macworld keynote address. Expectations are low, to put it mildly. But there is at least one possible bright spot that's perking the fanboys up a bit. It's rumored that Apple will announce that iTunes is going totally DRM-free . iTunes already offers songs from EMI DRM-free, but it's expected to also cut DRM on songs from the other three big-four labels: Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner Music. ...

iTunes Rumored (Again) to Be Going DRM-Free
Wired: Epicenter — ... According to CNET, negotiations between Apple and the world's three largest record labels may finally have produced an agreement that would give each party its wish. ...

Macworld Rumor Aftermath: What We Know Now
MacBlogz - One Stop Apple News — ... Cnet correctly reported a good amount of information regarding Apple’s then unannounced iTunes update. Information about new tiered pricing, over-the-air downloads and massive updates to the DRM free catalog of music were all correct. ...

Macworld San Francisco 2009 Rumor Wrapup: Winners and Losers
MacRumors : Mac News and Rumors — ... public beta, its functionality is limited to collaboration and document sharing. Other information from 9to5Mac also detailed celebrity lessons for GarageBand, which did turn out to be true. DRM-Free It seems clear that CNet has sources at major music labels and was able to predict that Apple would be launching a full DRM-free store at Macworld. No iPhone Nano... Yet? Case manufacturers XSKN and Vaja have both advertised cases for an unreleased iPhone Nano in the weeks leading up to Macworld. And while we still don't see the reasoning behind such a product, it seems ...