As promised, today, Apple, Inc., launched DRM-free music from EMI. While still a limited selection, it's a solid first step. The AAC (.mp4) 256Kbit audio files are $1.29 instead of the standard $0.99. Albums are the same prices as they were previously.

We tried the .mp4 files in a few different players including iTunes Mac and Windows, Windows Media Player, VLC player, Sonos and Squeezebox. All software and hardware players had no trouble playing the DRM-free iTunes. In order to purchase the new DRM-free music, you must upgrade iTunes to version 7.2.

If you previously purchased songs from the iTunes Store that are now in the iTunes Plus (DRM-free) format, iTunes will offer a $0.30 upgrade to the DRM-free version. We found it worked even if the purchased track had been deleted. Additionally, Apple has provided an iTunes Plus Quick Link in the iTunes interface and a checkbox for iTunes Plus in Power Search (also a Quick Link).  We noticed that iTunes was a bit busy today and experienced a few errors that required restarting downloads.

We now look forward to a larger selection and more labels.

Nicely done Apple.