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Is Non-DRM Music Worth an Extra 30 Cents?

The world is abuzz with talk of Apple and EMI’s DRM free deal. Sounds like a step forward for the music industry, but it got me to thinking–is non-DRM music worth a nearly 30% premium in price?

Let me do some math here…

1,000 songs purchased with DRM from the iTunes store = $990.

1,000 songs purchased without DRM from the iTunes store = $1,290.

The difference in price = $300.

$990 / $15 per CD = 66 CDs.

$300 / $15 per CD = 20 CDs.

Average number of songs per CD = 12.

12 songs X 86 CDs = 1,032 songs.

Call me crazy, but I’ll still buy the 86 CDs and rip the 1,032 MP3s myself to put on any device I want.

3 Comments

  1. ME ME ME wrote:

    It’s 1000 songs you want verses 1000 songs you may only want about 30% of.

    Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 8:11 pm | Permalink
  2. Corey wrote:

    the previous comment is true enough, but what do you do when your technology breaks. I’ll still have my 86 CDs :)

    Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 8:29 pm | Permalink
  3. Corey wrote:

    PhoneBoy is totally right. I listened to the press conference and according to Steve Jobs, singles will be $1.29 but the album prices won’t grow. Hmmm…maybe the format of the “album” won’t die after all

    Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at 1:26 am | Permalink

One Trackback/Pingback

  1. iTunes Higher-Quality Albums Won’t Cost Extra on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 9:41 pm

    […] DRM-free singles are going to cost $1.29, but album prices won’t change. So for Smarfy and Tedly who are a little concerned about raising prices: as long as you buy albums, your cost […]

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