DRM-free music selling fast

7digital.com has said that consumers overwhelmingly opt for music without DRM (digital rights management) technology, when given the choice.

Based on sales from the site, 7digital.com said that DRM-free high-quality MP3 files encoded at a bit rate of 320kbps are its best sellers.

And MP3 files are more popular than AAC files – the default format used by iTunes – as they are compatible with a wider range of hardware.

"Consumers overwhelmingly choose MP3 over any other format when given the choice. MP3 is the only truly inter-operable format that works with the iPod, most mobile phones and all MP3 players," said Ben Drury, managing director of 7digital.com.

DRM technology is designed to prevent copyright theft but often restricts individual listeners from storing tracks on more than one device, meaning that it is widely considered to be inconvenient.

EMI was the first major record label to make some of its catalogue available without DRM technology earlier this year.

7digital estimates that around 60 per cent of its library of over three million tracks is DRM-free and in MP3 format, and expects this figure to approach 100 per cent by the summer of 2008.

www.7digital.com

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