Apple: All iTunes Songs to Drop Copy Protection; $.69 Per Tune Prices; Cellular Music Downloads to iPhone

Apple (AAPL) may soon be offering more songs on its iTunes music store that are not copy-protected, according to multiple sources reporting this morning. The Wall Street Journal runs an article on its Web site, citing “people familiar,” reporting that “Apple Inc. is set to unveil a series of changes to its iTunes Store that represent significant shifts in its longstanding approach to the business of selling songs online” (Subscription required to read Journal articles.) Specifically, Apple may drop the almost uniform 99 cent price for songs. “Under a new pricing plan, songs would cost either 69 cents, 99 cents or $1.29, depending on how desirable they are considered. Apple is likely to sell the “vast majority” of the songs for 69 cents, these people said,” the Journal reports. The Journal says Apple may add tunes from Sony’s (SNE) Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Vivendi SA’s (VIV) Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group (WMG) to music from EMI Group Ltd. that contains no “digital rights management,” or copy-protection code. At the same time, gadget site Engadget is reporting that sources tell the authors that iTunes songs already purchased will be eligible for upgrade to the DRM-free versions for an additional 30 cents. Well, we may know soon, at the Apple Macworld keynote…

Update: Apple marketing exec Phil Schiller just announced at Macworld that starting immediately, 8 million songs on iTunes will be available without copy-protection, and that “By the end of this quarter, all 10 million songs will be DRM free.” Apple will, as rumored, offer new prices, 69 cents, and $1.29. Lastly, Schiller says users of the company’s iPhone will be able to buy tunes over 3G Networks, not just over Wi-Fi. That should cause some dismay to businesses built upon selling versions of pop songs at $1.99 to your cell phone, I’d imagine. For the moment, the iTunes store on the iPhone is still selling the top songs at 99 cents, though you can, indeed, purchase and download the songs over 3G connections.

Eric has details in his live blog of Macworld here.