On January 6th at the 2009 Macworld Conference Expo, Apple announced that an agreement had been made between major record labels that would allow them to sell all of the music at the iTunes store without the controversial Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions. That very same day 8 million tracks had their DRM restrictions removed from them, with promises that the rest of the iTunes catalog would be DRM free by the end of this March.

This new announcement by Apple follows perfectly from an open letter Steve Jobs statement nearly a year ago about DRM where he said that if the ‘big four’ record labels would allow it, Apple would sell DRM free music.

This move seems to be a revolutionary one by Apple in the online music business. As typically the restrictions imposed by the DRM only harm people who seek to do the right thing and purchase their music. A track bought from iTunes could be only burned onto a limited number of CDs. As well the number of different computers that could have the same song on them was limited. Illegal downloads have none of these restrictions on them.  For this reason it seems that by ditching the DRM, Apple has levelled the playing field between legal and illegal downloads. However, I do not believe this is the case.

One thing that the DRM did not restrict is the number of iPods that a song could be copied onto. One single iTunes purchased song, in theory,  could occupy an infinite number of iPods. Keeping that fact in mind, lets investigate the new pricing system that Apple has devised as a result of getting rid of DRM tracks. Historically, every single song on iTunes, regardless of popularity, cost 99 cents. Now, a three-tiered  system has been introduced and songs will cost either $1.29, $0.99, or $0.69 cents. Which songs cost which amount is left up completely to the record companies. Historically, record companies will do anything to maximize profits. This means that the most popular tracks will sell for $1.29 and as the popularity decreases, so will the cost.

Most people that I know use their iPod as their chief source for music. They don’t burn many CD’s, so the DRM restrictions had little effect on them and many people may have not even realized that these restrictions existed. However, everyone will realize when the price of their new favorite song goes up. This move may drive more people away from iTunes and towards illegal downloads.

So while it appears that Apple is doing good for the honest business of selling music online - and they very well are doing good by losing the DRM - by raising the prices of the most popular downloads, many people will certainly switch to piracy which is neither a good thing for the music industry or Apple.

This article is filed under Politonomist’s Op/Ed section, a section where editors and contributors can add or interject their feelings on various recent news events.

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