Universal going DRM-free, snubs iTunes

Following EMI's move toward DRM-free music back in April, rumormongers scoured every corner of the Internet in search of clues as to who would be the first to follow suit. Universal, the world's largest music label, has long been tipped as the next domino to fall and as it turns out, the rumors were true. Universal Music has announced that it will start selling DRM-free tracks in January, via all of the major online music outlets: Real's Rhapsody, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Google ... er, wait a minute. You'll notice that a certain online music store is conspicuously absent from that list, which is not entirely surprising, considering that Universal and Mr. Jobs have been squabbling over a variable pricing structure during the past few months. Regardless, Universal is pushing into the brave new DRM-free world without Apple and while the label only plans to open up "a significant portion of its catalog" at this point, you can be sure that if the program is a success, more tunes will follow.

For more on Universal's forthcoming DRM-free tracks:
- see this New York Times article