From the press release:

Apple has announced that iTunes will make individual AAC format tracks available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. iTunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay $0.99/€0.99/£0.79 for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied.  Complete albums from EMI Music artists purchased on the iTunes Store will automatically be sold at the higher sound quality and DRM-free, with no change in the price. Consumers who have already purchased standard tracks or albums with DRM will be able to upgrade their digital music for $0.30/€0.30/£0.20 per track.  All EMI music videos will also be available on the iTunes Store DRM-free with no change in price.

A great step forward but I’m not a fan of the DRM-free “tax.” The sound quality increase won’t be noticeable by most  but lets say it’s worth 5 cents. This means that they are charging an extra 25 cents for the DRM-free aspect. One way to look at it is that EMI is essentially expecting that 1 out of 4 DRM-free tracks will be pirated off to someone else. I’m not sure that this is really a valid charge to pass on to the consumers who pay for their music. Remember, DRM doesn’t stop piracy.

Either way, one step at a time…