January Surprise: Sony BMG Could Drop DRM on Music Tracks

And here I was predicting it would take all year for Sony to come to its senses. BusinessWeek is reporting that Sony BMG is on the cusp of joining the no-DRM party and is now "finalizing plans" to sell songs without copy protection. Sony's withdrawal from the DRM world would mark an end to copy protection on music as we know it.

Nothing is official yet. BusinessWeek cites anonymous sources "familiar with the matter" and a timeline that stretches to "some time in the first quarter." But I'm hopeful that the information is legitimate and that this all pans out.

EMI and Universal dropped DRM in 2007. Warner Music followed suit a few weeks ago.

Assuming the news is true, a big question remains on how Sony might sell these DRM-free tracks. Universal and Warner sell their DRM-free tracks only at Amazon. Songs sold on iTunes are still encumbered with copy protection. Sony may follow suit, or it may try selling DRM-free tracks on its own, exclusively. Sony's CONNECT service is still kicking around, and the company might decide to try to give it a kick-start by selling the unencumbered tracks only at connect.com. Foolish? Yes, but don't forget: Sony's the company that is responsible for the CD rootkit debacle in 2005. It doesn't like to let go of its music without a fight.

Stay tuned for more details as they develop.

LINK: Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM