Universal's decision to go DRM free conveniently coincided with the launch of a pilot MP3 download service from Amazon, the one company that people believe could be a serious competitor for Apple iTunes. Amazon have decided to only sell DRM free MP3s, meaning their service is iPod compatible. That fact coupled with a large existing base of online music consumers and sensible integration between MP3 and CD sales means that Amazon downloads, while still in its early stages, could become a powerful force in digital music in 2008. Which is of great interest to Morris, and quite possibly the key reason why Universal went DRM free.
That said, Morris isn't relying on Amazon to single-handedly take on Apple, and in the latter part of the year he started talking to the other majors about them launching their own rival download platform, something the record companies tried in the very early days of digital music, though somewhat unsuccessfully. Though if Morris's own download store could be the first to sell music from all four majors without DRM, then this time it could work.
Morris's plans are, as yet, still in the pipeline. And while download sales continued to grow, there actually seemed to be more download store closures than launches in 2007 - with the Virgin Group's attempts at a download platform and Sony's once much hyped Connect store the two highest profile closures. HMV revamped their download offer, dropping the subscription package, while Napster and, in the US, Real's Rhapsody continued with the subscription system, though with only modest success. The much hyped (in 2006) ad funded free download systems didn't really develop a great deal, though the highest profile one - Spiral Frog - did launch in North America, eventually, after various executive departures and much rumour of an early demise.
The man behind one of the early download platforms - MP3.com - arrived with an interesting new venture called Anywhere CD which sold you albums as a physical CD/MP3 bundle, and which seemed to have Warner Music onboard despite the digital bit being DRM free, though that quickly materialised to not, in fact, be the case, and legal wranglings followed. Anywhere CD soon disappeared from the net. Something called Lala launched in the US which I still don't really understand. And as for Microsoft's much hyped Zune player, there was little to report, and the player remained a US only device. There was quite a bit of chatter about new mobile music services - in particular a subscription based service called MusicStation available via Vodaphone over here - though I can't help thinking that twelve months on, the mobile music industry is still to really find its feet.
In fact most of the big stories in digital music - Amazon aside - continued to centre on Apple. And the biggest story, of course, was the arrival of much hyped iPhone. I'm not sure how many people have actually bought one - reports vary - but the hybrid iPod/mobile device, available via O2 over here, certainly got everyone in the techy world and beyond very excited.