Freedom to Tinker has a post that for me, succulently sums up the position major labels currently find themselves in regarding DRM and the sale of DRM free MP3s:

Now, they have to overcome history, their own pride, and years of their own rhetoric.

Yesterday Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc, threw his hat into the anti-DRM ring. Providing three options

1. to continue on the current course
2. for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability between different company’s players and music stores
3. to abolish DRMs entirely

You can read his full thoughts on music, but he clearly is in favour of his third option:

In 2006, under 2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves. The music companies sell the vast majority of their music DRM-free, and show no signs of changing this behavior, since the overwhelming majority of their revenues depend on selling CDs which must play in CD players that support no DRM system.

So if the music companies are selling over 90 percent of their music DRM-free, what benefits do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system?

As noted over on Hypebot

It is possible that particularly Job’s statements are more about posturing than a real desire to see Apple’s closed DRM system challenged.

Regardless, all this anti-DRM hype/movement can’t be good news for Microsoft and Vista’s beefed up DRM measures. Another example of failing at innovation biting you in the ass.

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