Apple’s decision to start selling tracks from EMI free of DRM software looked inevitable given its PR posturing.

But charging users a 25 per cent premium to sidestep the anti-piracy technology, which also ensures iTunes tracks can only be played on iPods, looks like a back-door price rise.

It is an odd tactic to embrace as Apple loosens its grip on the market, more so since the feeling is that EMI is only the first domino to fall in the DRM debate. The timing looks even worse as it coincides with an EU objection to the way Apple charges UK consumers more for tracks than their Continental peers.

Apple has shown it knows it will have to modify the tactics that have made it the king of digital music. The question is whether price rises can defend the lead it has built up as we enter a new era of increased consumer choice.

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