7Digital Offers 4 Million Tracks Without DRM, Plans Developers' API as Well

In a bold move, 7digital has announced that all four big major music labels have allowed the small Uk online music shop - which is second only to iTunes - to flog their entire catalog of songs as high quality DRM-free MP3 files.

The files will be available in 320kbps bitrate which means that users will be able to download and play the file across virtually all the MP3 and portable media players currently available on the market.

This is the first time that the four music labels - Sony BMG, Universal Music, Warner Music and EMI Records - have agreed to do so in the UK and could be a sign that they have finally decided to give Apple's iTunes a run for its money.

Four million tracks will be available overnight and 7Digital will be giving two free albums to all their users; the first one being a selection of artists from EMI's catalogue while the second one is a best-of of Indie artists from 7Digital.

7Digital has also announced that it wil be expanding across the Atlantic and in other markets as well and will be providing developers with an API to help them come up with their own applications.

Amazon has already hinted that it will bring its Music store, which also has no DRM, to the UK soon and this proves that there's life in the online UK market, even as others like Wippit.com, have been forced to close their business.