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Digital Freedom Campaign goes on road

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digitalfreedom.pngThe Digital Freedom Campaign, a coalition that promotes consumer rights in the digital age, announced the schedule for its fall campaign. The fall initiative, including Digital Freedom University, brings the message of fair use and digital freedom to students, artists and consumers at university campuses, music festivals and consumer events around the country.

“Building on the extraordinary success of our first year, its time to take the Digital Freedom Campaign on the road,” Maura Corbett, a spokesperson for the Digital Freedom Campaign said. “By mobilizing our message and promoting innovation, creativity and consumer rights at events around the country, we are literally bringing the gospel of Digital Freedom to the public. We believe a well-informed public will make well-informed decisions about the future of copyright and digital freedom policies and practices that affect them everyday.”

The following is the schedule of Digital Freedom University events:

Harvard University – October 10
Brown University – October 11
Northeaster University – October 12
Boston University – October 15
Columbia University – October 17
American University – October 24
The George Washington University – November 11
Virginia Tech University – November 6
University of Virginia – November 8

The following is the schedule of Digital Freedom Campaign’s scheduled festivals and events:

CMJ: New York, New York | October 16 – 20
Dewey Beach: Dewey Beach, Delaware | September 27 – 30
D.A.M. Festival: Washington D.C. | October 11 – 14
The International CES: Las Vegas, Nevada | January 7 – 10

Originally posted on October 10, 2007 @ 10:44 am

Filed Under: DRM

Microsoft Music Store goes DRM-Free

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Microsoft became the latest and largest music retailer to offer DRM-free digital music. The announcement comes less than two weeks after Amazon.com launched its own DRM-free digital music store. The Microsoft Music Store will offer consumers more than one million DRM-free songs.

“The industry standard has shifted in the past six months and the tide has turned in favor of consumers,” Maura Corbett, a spokesperson for the Digital Freedom Campaign said. “The number of digital music retailers offering DRM-free music will soon out number those that do not, and consumers will soon live in a world where they can listen to legally purchased music when, how, and where they want. We congratulate Microsoft for joining the growing number of retailers and labels that have realized the best way to increase the sales of digital music, is to listen to their customers.”

Originally posted on October 5, 2007 @ 11:55 pm

Wal-Mart launches MP3 music download tracks

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walmart.jpgWal-Mart announced the launch of DRM-free MP3 music downloads, now available online. At only 94 cents per track and $9.22 per album, the new MP3 digital format delivers value, convenience and the ability for customers to play music on nearly any device, including iPod, iPhone and Zune portable media players. Wal-Mart is one of the first major retailers to offer MP3 digital tracks with music content from major record labels such as Universal and EMI Music.

“As we consistently strive to help our customers shop smart at Wal-Mart, our new ‘DRM-free’ MP3 digital tracks give them the ease and flexibility to play music on virtually any device at a great value,” said Kevin Swint, Wal-Mart’s senior director and divisional manager for digital media. “Also, we’re excited to launch our MP3 catalog with major record labels such as Universal and EMI Music that includes music from popular artists like The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, KT Tunstall, Amy Winehouse, Maroon 5, George Strait and Nelly.”

Wal-Mart will continue to offer its existing WMA-format music downloads. Thus, customers may select the option of MP3-format downloads at 256 kbps for $0.94/track and/or WMA-format downloads at 128 kbps for $0.88/track.

Originally posted on August 21, 2007 @ 1:34 pm

LimeWire to open DRM-free digital music store

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LimeWireLime Wire, popular spyware-free file sharing program, announces its plan to open a DRM-free digital music store.

The music store, which still remains unnamed as of press release, will initially be a stand-alone website, which can be accessed through links on LimeWire’s software. Eventually, they plan to allow users to buy music directly from LimeWire.

Currently, LimeWire has scored deals with Canada-based music label Nettwerk Productions, and Iris Distribution, both companies agreeing to provide LimeWire with MP3 formatted music from their catalogs.

“We are delighted to collaborate with these forward-thinking music companies and sell their authorized content through LimeWire,” said Jesse Rubenfeld, Lime Wire Chief Financial Officer.

Originally posted on August 15, 2007 @ 6:08 am

John Lennon solo catalog debuts on iTunes

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johnlennon.jpgApple announced the debut of the John Lennon solo catalog on the iTunes Store. Sixteen of Lennon’s solo works from EMI Music are available for the first time on iTunes starting today, with the “Lennon Legend” and “Acoustic” collections making their worldwide digital debuts. For a limited period of 30 days, exclusive video content will be included with the albums “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” “Sometime in New York City,” “Walls and Bridges,” “Milk and Honey” and the collections “Anthology” and “Working Class Hero.”

“John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners,” said Yoko Ono.

“John Lennon is one of the greatest artists of our time,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re thrilled to have his solo catalog available on the iTunes Store for the first time.”

As part of EMI Music’s digital catalog, the John Lennon solo works will be available in iTunes Plus, offering DRM-free music tracks with high quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings for just $1.29 per song.

Originally posted on August 14, 2007 @ 12:35 pm