To the Editor:

“Apple’s Long-Awaited Shift on Music” (editorial, Jan. 9) seems a bit outdated in its characterizations of the music industry.

We are in the midst of a remarkable period of experimentation and innovation, embraced by music labels of every size that continue to distribute their music through a stunning array of different digital business models. As a result, we expect that digital music formats will account for some 30 percent of the industry’s revenues in 2008, up from virtually nothing a few years ago.

Long before the recent announcement by Apple, record companies had sold their music free of digital rights management, or D.R.M., technologies through online sites like Wal-Mart and Amazon.com. (For the record, the Recording Industry Association of America does not “champion” D.R.M. As a trade association, we defend the right of our members to protect or not protect their works as they choose.)

Our community still suffers enormously from the theft of music online. Every survey confirms that a vast majority of the music downloads are done illegally.