Apple’s iTunes Store began selling DRM-free songs from EMI on Wednesday. DRM (digital rights management) software prevents owners from copying or freely using a digital file across multiple devices. As expected, all the songs from music label EMI that are sold on iTunes are now available in DRM-free versions. Shoppers have the option to purchase …

Warner Music Group and Bertelsmann have settled a lawsuit regarding Bertelsmann’s involvement with Napster’s music service in 2001, both companies announced Tuesday. Bertelsmann will pay $110 million to Warner Music, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement reached by the two companies did not require Bertelsmann to admit liability. Both Bertelsmann and Warner Music …

Can’t wait for the current cycle of talentless pop music to end? Bebo Bands wants to hear from you. Social-networking site Bebo announced in early July that its 25 million members would have unlimited uploading and sharing of music files to its Bebo Bands site. In the last two weeks, more than 25,000 bands and tens of thousands of groupies …

We are buying the gadgets, but not the music. While interest in MP3 players and multimedia downloads is rising, more music is being ripped from CDs than downloaded, according to a study released Thursday by Ipsos Insight. Twenty percent of Americans over the age of 12 own at least one portable MP3 player. Among teens exclusively, ownership reaches 54 percent, …