Reports are surfacing that EMI is in negotiations with some of the leading music stores to offer a substantial portion of its music catalog without DRM, with an announcement due as early as today. Under one scenario, music stores like Napster, Real Rhapsody, and others would fork over sizable advance payments in exchange for the right to sell music as unprotected MP3s. Another industry source reports that EMI was also discussing the possibility of selling MP3s on MySpace using SnoCap.

All of the parties reportedly involved are remaining close-mouthed on whatever negotiations may be taking place, but the scuttlebutt is that the negotiations have been going on for months. Needless to say, any decision by one of the big four labels to make a sizable chunk of its music available for download sans DRM would be ground-breaking.

EMI has experimented with DRM-free music in the past. The most recent occurrence was in December 2006 when they gave Yahoo Music the green light to sell a single from Norah Jones and a couple of tracks from Relient K as MP3s. Selling a large portion of its catalog as unprotected MP3s would put it at odds with the RIAA and other major labels, who firmly back the continued use of DRM. "Let me be clear. We advocate the continued use of DRM in the protection of ourand our artists'intellectual property," said Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr. during his company's quarterly earnings call.

Steve Jobs has gone on record saying that Apple would gladly sell DRM-free music if the labels agree. If the reports are true, EMI is close to taking Jobs up on his offer, with an EMI spokesperson telling Reuters that the label is pleased with how its MP3 experiments have turned out. "The results have been positive," said the spokesperson. "[The] lack of operability between a proliferating range of devices and hardware and the digital platforms for delivering music is more and more becoming an issue for music consumers and EMI has been engaging with our various partners to find a solution."

Legal music downloads have made up for some of the decline in CD sales, but the labels' decision to insist on DRM wrappers for every track has arguably played a significant role in Apple's ownership of the digital music market. Puncturing the closed DRM ecosystems with unprotected files would likely allow other music services to sell iPod-compatible music for the first time (hacks aside), putting a chink in Apple's armor. More importantly, it would give consumers the same freedom they get with the purchase of an album on CD: the ability to listen to it on the device of their choosing without any restrictions.