Amazing how a company can just go from ‘don’t care about’ to ‘super-cool’ in just one day. EMI did just that today, by partnering up with Apple and releasing its entire music library on iTunes DRM free. Even though the peace of mind will cost you an additional 30 cents, you will also receive double the bitrate (256 kbp/s instead of 128 kbp/s) for higher quality audio.

To make all of this possible, Apple just released iTunes 7.2 which supposedly offers iTunes Plus, Apple’s DRM free $1.29 offerings.

With iTunes 7.2, preview and purchase iTunes Plus music—new higher-quality, DRM-free music downloads from participating music labels.

Even though I installed iTunes 7.2 I couldn’t find any noticeable differences or any hints of iTunes Plus. Nothing in the preference panel, and a quick search for some of EMI’s artists such as ‘Radiohead’ or ‘Foo Fighters’ did not reveal any of the new offerings either. Maybe Apple needs some more time to update its online store, or I was just too tired to see it.

Either way, it’s good to see when a company such as EMI takes a step forward and dares to be different. Let’s hope that the gamble will work out in EMI’s favor so that the laggards (Sony BMB, Universal, and Warner) will follow soon.

UPDATE:

The first time you buy an iTunes Plus song, you specify whether to make all future purchases iTunes Plus versions (when available). You can change this setting by accessing your account information on the iTunes Store,” Apple writes. “If you already have iTunes Store purchases that are now available as iTunes Plus downloads, you may upgrade your existing purchases. To do so, visit the iTunes Store and follow the onscreen instructions.

So it appears as if the company is waiting for some kind of event where Steve Jobs could publicly announce the availability of DRM free music. Hmmm… I wonder when such an event could occur…