Not so fast iTunes

As we reported yesterday, Universal, Warner and Sony have finally inked a deal with iTunes to go DRM-Free. Here are more details:

The new iTunes pricing model will price older catalog songs at $0.69, recent releases at $0.99, and current chart hits at $1.29. It’s worth noting that users will have to pay $0.30 for DRM removal from old songs. Also, even though iTunes may be DRM-Free now, all of its downloads will still be restricted due to the fact that they are delivered in the AAC file format which is only compatible with iPods, iPhones, and a limited number of other devices.

Is this how the future should look like? No. Chances are that kids will be even less likely to pay for music now that we will start charging them more than a buck for a hit song. Another problem is that we are still dictating how fans can listen to music, instead of offering it in every possible format (flac, mp3, etc.) on every single music store!