Will 2007 go down in history as the year when DRM (digital rights management) went down the tubes as record labels finally succumbed to declining CD sales and customer complaints and started releasing music in unprotected digital form?

There have been scores of gadget fans and music fans that have waited for this for years. They don't like being faced to purchase music and then have it only work on one device or expire sometime in the future. Customers clearly want to "buy" music and own it to use on any device they want, anywhere and at anytime. Sure, Apple Computer, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes store sells a heckuva lot of digital songs that are protected -- could they sell more with unprotected downloads, though?

The music industry may have no other choice but to release music as fully unprotected digital content that will allow consumers to use it how *they* want (imagine that) instead of being fully controlled by how the content owners want consumers to use content. You buy a song and you purchase the right from the content owner to use that material on your devices as opposed to just an iPod other digital content system. Will this happen is sales of physical media like CDs continue to fall? Will Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple have issues due to this or will both simply become conduits for buying unprotected content (just another *pipe*)?

We all saw how fast Napster caught fire, then was swiftly extinguished by the long arm of the RIAA. Who could turn down the alure of free music? Five years later, YouTube caught fire. Many industry pundits expected a similar fate for the company. But wait! Unlike the draconian music industry, television producers figured out YouTube was actually a positive marketing tool. Could the record industry backpedal on years of lawsuits and start restricting consumers less?

Of course, peer2peer services are essentially dead now, at least for the general public. P2P is replaced with another acronym, DRM. Digital Rights Management helps you be honest, and helps prevent rampant piracy, but it also restricts where, how and how often music can be played. Until recently, DRM-ed music like Apple Computer Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes was the only place to get music. But now DRM-ed track sales are starting to flatten out, and the music industry can't point to protected track sales increasing sales numbers as a way to justify their existence. Instead, selling less restrictive tracks could be a way to stimulate growth. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) already struck a deal with Jessica Simpson's label, and sold an unrestricted version of her single "Public Affair" for $1.99. Now, Yahoo! says it's following suit with two more tracks this year, and expect other online music services to follow suit.

As the age of the iPod continues, expect more consumers to become savvy consumers and realize all their iTunes Music Store tracks aren't playable anywhere except their iPod. Perhaps we'll see a subscription model, such as Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) PlaysForSure initiative, gain more traction in the marketplace, and stir something up. PlaysForSure ensures device compatibility between music services and devices. DRM stays, but so does your music, as long as you switch to another PlaysForSure approved device.

In addition to PlaysForSure and Yahoo!'s experiment, Billboard Magazine lists a few other companies to watch. Among them, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), News Corp's (NYSE:NWS) MySpace, LimeWire and eMusic.

Surely Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) thought of a few things before launching its new Zune digital media player last week. Sure, the device has a bevy of features that outstrip the rival Apple iPod, but the killer app that it does not have, yet, is simple integration into a full-featured music and media store like Apple's iTunes. It's coming, though: the Zune store, from initial photos, resembles iTunes quite a bit. I'll have to wait and see along with you if the Zune store grows to include a huge selection of music along with television shows and movies over time.

But wait a minute -- isn't there a Microsoft-branded subscription music service that exists all over the globe right now? Sure there is: Microsoft's "PlaysForSure" logo can be found on almost every mainstream MP3 player that is not an iPod these days. The "PlaysForSure" platform is a way to let labels and artists protect their music from illegal sharing but to ensure customers can get their purchased music anytime. It works quite a bit different than iTunes -- a customer pays a monthly fee to get access to unlimited music. But when you cancel the subscription, all your music goes away. Apple's iTunes actually lets the customer purchase and own the music.

So, with such a non-competitive digital music platform out there already that has not made headway against the iPod/iTunes threat will the new Microsoft Zune player be able to use its own "PlaysForSure" platform? Nope -- Microsoft is going the Apple direction and it looks like will make and take complete control over the purchased media experience over the Zune stores much like the tight grip Apple has on the iTunes store. One company, one control, and great content make for great success, as Apple has found out. Can Microsoft do the same thing, while not alienating its "PlaysForSure" (or "unsure", now) customers who have used the previous but non-controlled platform?

In an odd way, Microsoft is ditching its PC business model of "license the software, let everyone else build and fight over the hardware" and is following Apple's tightly-controlled lead of producing the hardware and software themselves -- quite a departure, I might add. But, it's worked for Apple. Will it work for Microsoft?