Thoughts on EMI-Apple announcement (DRM-Free)

You've no doubt heard that EMI announced this past week that they'll be releasing higher quality DRM-free songs at a premium price per download, starting with a limited term exclusive on iTunes. There's a lot of buzz about the implications of this announcement. One important question is whether the other three major labels will follow suit (all the labels renew with iTunes at the end of April each year, so we ought to find out reasonably soon). Another key question is whether this move benefits consumers; at the surface it appears to, but do most consumers really value higher fidelity enough to pay a premium for a track (with or without DRM) -- some may, but it won't be the vast majority. Many industry pundits are suggesting that download track prices will drop below 99 cents, and this is a move in the other direction. The real winners appear to be the other iPod + iTunes competitors who are looking forward to leveraging DRM-free tracks to allow consumers to move tracks among a range of devices.