DRM-Free Tracks Boost 7Digital Sales

Online music retailer 7Digital claims that signing DRM-free deals with Warners and EMI has drastically boosted its sales.

People want to own their music without restrictions. That’s the apparent conclusion after online music retailer 7Digital claims its sales have risen dramatically after inking DRM-free deals with major labels Warners and EMI, according to Reuters.

The company says sales have gone up 130% since January, and are up 300% year-on-year to this June. It now expects Universal and Sony BMG to sign similar deals before the end of 2008.

7Digital Chief Executive Ben Drury said:

"It is now clear that MP3 downloads represent the future for digital music. With two of the four major labels now supporting MP3 in the UK, we expect to see the whole market supporting MP3 in the not-too-distant future."

Interesting, the increase has been not only in the sale of single tracks, but also of entire albums.

If the major labels do embrace the universal, DRM-free MP3 format, the dominance of Apple’s iTunes could soon be in jeopardy, and make for a more open market. Many record labels have been struggling against lower sales of CDs.