Since the DRM-free tracks from EMI went live on iTunes Plus barely three weeks ago, early sales indicate they are clearly more popular than DRM copy protected songs. According to Lauren Berkowitz, a senior vice president at EMI, "the initial results of DRM-free music are good."
Berkowitz said that sales of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon were up 350 percent in the week after iTunes Plus launched. That has since leveled off, but sales of the album are still up 272 percent since going DRM-free. (...) Digital sales for other EMI artists have risen as well, such as Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream (17 percent), Norah Jones' Come Away with Me (24 percent), and Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head (115 percent).
At this point it is still very early to determine if this trend will continue or if the spike in sales is attributed to the highly publicized launch and users upgrading their DRM protected iTunes Music to the DRM-free versions upon initial release. EMI, of course, is hoping that this success will continue. But most importantly, other major music labels might actually be tempted to finally drop DRM if increased sales maintain.