Vodafone to offer DRM-free music

Vodafone has collaborated with three major record labels so that their music will be available DRM-free in the official Vodafone music store, the European phone provider announced. 

Songs offered through Vodafone Music used to be protected by WMA, but tracks from Sony, Universal, and EMI will now be offered as unprotected MP3s.  Anyone who has purchased songs with WMA protection will be able to get free downloads of the equivalent unprotected songs.

Music can be purchased from both mobile phones and computers and owners have the ability to play the songs on any type of device now that it’s DRM-free, Vodafone said. 

The Vodafone Music store has more than one million music songs.  Vodafone and Warner Music Group are also working together for Warner’s music to be made available through the store.  It’ll be interesting to see if Vodafone can get more music customers now that their products are DRM-free, as many music customers were critical of that aspect of their store.

Music companies have been forced to branch out and tap new revenue streams as sales of physical CDs continue to decline at a rapid pace.  Several phone manufacturers, including Nokia and Sony Ericsson, have promoted phones that have the ability to download music through an online store.