EMI, the third largest record company with acts such as the Beastie Boys and the Beatles, has been considering scrapping its use of DRM on downloaded music tracks. EMI has been in talks with more than one online music store. Despite Steve Jobs recent plea to anyone that would listen to end DRM, EMIA and Apple have not spoken yet, but that could change as a result of their now publicly mutual interest in moving away from DRM.

It would appear according to a Wall Street Journal article today that Steve Jobs was not aware that EMI was shopping around. The article goes on to elaborate that Jobs started his letter as a result of European Union pressure for Apple to make its products work on other devices.

CD sales fell this year by 20%. They account for 85% of US sales of music and such a big drop in sales has music companies working hard to catch up and get their cash flows back on track. The new question for the music companies will be, “Is it too little too late?’

Technorati tags: EMI, Apple, DRM

This week Steve Jobs came out with a letter to the world expressing the concept that he thinks that Digital Rights Management DRM is essentially a waste of time inspired by a reactionary Music Industry. He published his letter on his website and laid out the case against DRM and as a side point against the record industry that requires DRM.

Just a couple months ago Bill Gates invited a number of bloggers for a one on one personal dialogue. He intimated his distaste for DRM then as well. Recommending that music shoppers should burn music from CD’s as opposed to buying music with DRM, like the music offered at his Zune online music store. He essentially said the same thing that Steve Jobs is saying now, but a little eloquently.

With all this talk from the head of two of the companies that are so much at the heart of DRM through their media player software and now also through their physical media players, it seems as if they are starting to publicly state their opinion and acknowledge their agreement.

In private if they were to sit down and choose a course to act together or against individually the music industry, even when consumers benefit this would be considered collusion. However, free speech is still allowed in many forms throughout the US, and so both leaders are allowed to express their opinion publicly, even though it allows them to confirm with each other that they are publicly on the same sheet of music. The end result is the same as they can choose their direction knowing the move of the other, but the record industry also benefits from seeing the telegraphed signal as well.

This might be the beginning of the end of DRM as we know it and that can definitely be a good thing for consumers wallets, what it will do to and for the record industry and the TV and movie industry remains to be seen.

Technorati tags: apple, steve jobs, bill gates, DRM, digital rights management, collusion