Yep, that’s right. I had to check the date, but it WAS April 2nd yesterday - wasn’t it?!

So, it’s true.

Finally, the music industry (well, EMI anyway) has listened to what music lovers, fans, independent artists and neighbours dogs have been saying for years… “Give us DRM-free downloads!”

In what could turn out to be a watershed moment in music history, EMI and Apple have agreed a distribution deal that will see the entire EMI catalogue available on iTunes WITHOUT any form of copy protection or Digital Rights Management (DRM).

It’s fantastic news for consumers - and lets hope the other 3 majors follow suit, but what does it mean for artists, in particular independents?

We already know iTunes is looking at selling independent music sometime soon. Could a similar deal be offered direct to artists? As an independent you can already sell your DRM-free tracks with many online stores - but I think many would find the lure of being on iTunes pretty irresistable, given their near 85% share of digital music sales.

That is, of course, if they were non-exclusive contracts…