Warner Agrees to Drop DRM, Sell Music on Amazon

In a surprising reversal, music industry conglomerate Warner Music Group announced Friday that it will begin selling its music, DRM-free, in the mp3 format as part of Amazon.com’s music store, the AP reported.

Previously, rivals EMI and Universal Music Group had agreed to sell DRM-free mp3s of their artists’ music, as had many independent labels; Sony BMG now becomes the lone major holdout.

DRM-free mp3s can be played on any digital music player, including Apple’s iPod and most of its major rivals, as well as PC-based players. The Warner catalog will be slowly added to Amazon’s site throughout the next week, the report said.