So far, Real Networks has been the only company that has tried making its Real Harmony content interoperable with Apple's DRM to allow playback on iPods. When they succeeded in reverse engineering Apple's FairPlay DRM, it not only stunned Apple, but even made Apple look into whether Real was violating the DMCA by doing this in order to get them to stop this. Now the reverse engineering move can be done away with, as Rhapsody is following Napster's move by removing DRM from all of its individual single and album sales, which includes music from the 4 major record labels.
In order to promote its new unrestricted music, it will spend $50 million over the next year to promote this change. Like its pricing up until now, songs will be priced at 99 per individual song or $9.99 per album for most albums. As expected, the DRM will still apply to music downloaded as part of its unlimited download subscription service. Its new service will also be made available through 3rd party music services such as Yahoo! Music and MTV.com.
Those who purchase music on Verizon's V Cast mobile music service will be able to get DRM-free MP3 versions from Real on their PC. However, music bought on a Verizon phone will be priced at $1.99 per song. A subscription service for Verizon customers is available for $14.99 per month.
