Universal Music, the world’s largest record company, is preparing to experiment with selling digital music without the existing levels of copy protection.

The company behind Snow Patrol, 50 Cent and Amy Winehouse wants to see if selling music without “digital rights management” protection is outweighed by the financial rewards. An announcement is expected in a few weeks.

The willingness of the Vivendi-owned Universal to experiment comes two months after EMI said that it would take the plunge in partnership with Apple. Some rivals, such as Warner Music, believe that such a move could reopen the floodgates for internet pirates.

A final decision from Universal is due later in the year, after the test programme is completed. Rivals such as the second-ranked SonyBMG acknowledge that if the market leader changes its stance, neither it nor fourth-ranked Warner Music will be able to persist with the same digital safeguards.

The issue remains contentious even inside Universal, with some executives, particularly in its French division, already testing the sale of music without copy protection. Others, including Doug Morris, the chief executive, are far more cautious.

Universal is also reluctant to work with Apple, the leading digital music retailer, despite reports to the contrary in the United States. Apple wants the music industry to give up both copy protection – theoretically permitting unrestricted, illegal copying – in return for charging higher prices.

Digital rights management technology has a range of purposes. Apple’s technology is often incompatible with others, meaning that songs bought from the iTunes store cannot be played on other music players. Other digital music stories, such as HMV’s, cannot sell downloads to iPod-owners.

It also incorporates copy protection that ensures it is not possible to pirate songs simply by e-mailing them to friends.

Other music companies, most notably Warner, would like to see Apple simply make its product compatible with all music stores, while retaining restrictions on copy protection – or develop alternatives elsewhere.

This week, Warner reached an agreement with Lala.com, which is allowing users to share music for free in return for the record company getting a radio-style per-play royalty.

EMI’s unprotected songs, priced at a premium 99p a track, went live on Apple’s iTunes last week. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon reached No 10 in iTunes’s American chart and No 5 in Britain as a result, although no other sales figures have been released.

Universal also wants to protect the growing success of the emerging market for downloading music to mobile, which has taken off particularly with American urban music.

Universal’s Chamillionaire has well over three million ring-tones for his single Ridin’. On some estimates, not accepted by EMI, sales of trial unprotected songs reached only a few hundred thousand units. That has led the New York-based music company to wonder whether consumers are that interested in unprotected music.

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