According to an article published on the Washington Post website this morning, the iTunes Store will soon be selling Digital Rights Management-free (DRM) MP3s.

Wait, how does this work? Well, the digital music industry has not yet found itself in the perfect market position, and those in the game are still trying to find the best way to make money for themselves and the artists while keeping fans happy.

The latest move sees the Apple giant in direct business with several major labels (including Sony BMG, Warner and EMI, so we really are talking major labels), and the license free music is sold for the usual price of between 69c and $1.29 depending on the song, artist and label in question.

According to the Washington Post, iTunes customers can also opt to pay 30c to switch to DRM-free versions of their past purchases.

’That's Entertainment’

At present, 80% of the iTunes Store’s shelf space is occupied by the restriction free music, with the remainder to be converted soon. If the new model works, smaller labels are likely follow suit, resulting in aural freedom for all.

At the end of the day, fans don’t like paying for something they don’t feel they own (just take a look at the reaction to Spore’s DRM) – an issue that Apple have taken to heart.

Great news, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Self-destructing media and encrypted file formats are as common as their pirate-bounty counterparts – hopefully I’ll be posting a follow up about this new model in a few months with nothing but good news.

**Update

There's been some discussion that the DRM-Free iTunes will still have user ID's embedded in each file in the form of a user's email adresses. You can read more about this here.