Does the Canadian iTunes store carry DRM-free music?
iTunes Canada carries songs free of DRM?
After Googling this question a couple times, I thought I would make it easier to find the answer. The answer is yes, but not all songs. You can tell by the words “iTunes Plus” above the buy now button.
I found it particularly interesting that there was a button on the iTunes store homepage prompting me to “upgrade” to iTunes Plus. When I clicked it I was given the generous opportunity to buy the tracks AGAIN for a seemingly random price. For instance, I could upgrade the 12 tracks on A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms for $3.56, the 12 tracks on Audioslave’s Out of Exile for $3.00, and the 13 tracks on Matthew Good’s Avalanche for $2.40. At first, I assumed this was the new variable pricing model, but each track on each album was listed for $0.99 cents. So go figure.
I love the idea of DRM-free music. I just bought Mudvayne’s new album aptly titled The New Game, the first from iTunes since buying a vehicle with an MP3 player. However, it annoys me that I have to pay again to get the DRM taken off my existing purchases. Yes, I can strip the DRM myself, but that is a pain compared to just swiping the album via bittorrent.
Digital Music, Personal
digital distribution, DRM, iTunes
I was a fan of Bon Jovi circa Slippery When Wet and New Jersey but kind of lost interest in the modern years. I have remained aware however, of their ability to retain fans by putting out the essentially the same songs with the same sound for decades while maintaining enough freshness to keep fans coming back. And buying records. Their box set, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t be Wrong is a statement of that longevity.
So I was excited to see the Great 80s Hair Band in what I thought would be a “past-their-prime” type of show. Read more…
Personal
acc, bon jovi
My wife Cindy and I have just moved into our new apartment in Toronto. We aren’t even unpacked and I am starting a new contract this Monday morning.
My new employer is Filemobile, a social networking platform and CMS technology company that is truly Web 2.0 savvy.
FileMobile was recently featured on the highly influential tech news-maker blog, TechCrunch.
TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington was recently described in Wired Magazine as “being among the most influential — and quite possibly the richest — business writers in Silicon Valley.”
This was a very good sign indeed for the King West Village startup whose client list includes the iconic Canadian media companies MuchMusic and CBC.
My blog will continue to focus on new media companies, ideas, trends, entertainment and all manner of things that interest me and hopefully others in and out of the media business.
Personal
CBC, Filemobile, Michael Arrington, Muchmusic, networking, new media, social, TechCrunch, Toronto
