14 DAY TRIAL // I feel like "Happy-happy, joy-joy-joy!" from a cartoon years ago as I have read the news this morning and noticed that Yahoo Music is definitely willing to sell DRM-free tracks online by Christmas.
Of course, this is but a small step towards the really free music market we want to have (once more) and Yahoo is so far like a drop of water amid an ocean; yet this makes a minority which is willing to take music e-sales to a new level and thus will surely give a positive sign to all those who aren't decided yet which road should they follow.
Dave Goldman head of Yahoo Music declared for USA Today that Yahoo will most likely follow closely EMI if not even get ahead of the giant in ditching the DRM for good. In fact, Goldman said that he used to advocate for ridding the tracks bought online of the restrictive DRM as it was more than clear that sales would seriously boost as more people who were likely to buy music from DAPs would actually do so, confident that they could enjoy it the right away, with no obstacles.
And if Yahoo wasn't enough, SanDisk has also directed its discourse towards a DRM-free market in the voice of its CEO, Elli Harari. While Harari declared that proprietary systems aren't that convenient for consumers when it comes to such a thing as music and music commerce, Europe has confronted a massive wave of complaints about both the rather illegal nature of such restrictions and anti-competitive policies promoted by the urge to play music bought from a company on that company's devices. Countries like Norway have even pressed legal actions against such policies and things have been solved in favor of the consumer.
Looks like the DRM is finally starting its fall: should EMI, Yahoo and SanDisk be able to cope at least in this matter, the eyelet of calm amidst the storm will already mean a significant stronghold RIAA will no longer be able to disband. Of course there are nasty things to be expected from RIAA, but the snowball-effect will be too strong to be stopped and no one will care what RIAA will have to say. Rust in peace, DRM!
