Whatever is going on behind the scenes at EMI, Warner Music chief Edgar Bronfman Jr seems committed to sticking with DRM. Responding to the Jobs essay he told reporters that the Apple chief's proposals were "completely without logic or merit", adding that his company was committed to the continued use of DRM, citing the fact that film studios and software makers had similar DRM polices but generally didn't come under so much criticism for their approach. Commenting on the fact Jobs has published his polemic ahead of licence renewal negotiations between Apple and the majors, which are due to begin in the next month or so, he observed: "Frankly, manifestos in advance of those discussions are counter-productive".
Bronfman's comments followed the news that profits at Warner Music for the final quarter of 2006 were 74% down from the same period last year (down from $69 million to $18 million) mainly because, despite a considerable leap in digital sales, performance in the still crucial CD albums market did not go well, mainly because their release schedule didn't have the big hits from the likes of Madonna, James Blunt and Green Day which were still selling in large numbers at the end of 2005.