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U2, the only band to have had an official iPod model made in its honor, has dropped the DRM from its music catalog for the first time. All 19 of the band’s full-length releases (including some special editions with bonus tracks) are now available on the Rhapsody MP3 store for $10 a piece, or $20 for double-length releases that contain bonus tracks.
Rhapsody began selling 256 Kbps, DRM-free MP3s in late June on the same day the company announced partnerships with iLike, MTV and Yahoo. This also represents a new development for U2, whose manager Paul McGuinness has been a vocal supporter of the movement to kick file sharers off of the internet if they are suspected of infringement for a third time (the British appear to have adopted a slightly more lenient policy).
McGuinness also said Radiohead’s name-your-price sale backfired). However, the band’s take on the music industry appears to be quite different, with Bono contradicting his manager by coming out in support of Radiohead’s “courageous and innovative” model.
U2 has sold 170 million albums during their long career and was the focus of the impressive concert film U23D earlier this year.
- Eliot Van Buskirk, Wired.com
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