According to
this article Apple and EMI have struck a deal to offer DRM-free music on the iTunes Music Store. For this privilege you get to pay an extra 30¢ per song.
With this move, Apple and EMI feel as though they are moving "the digital music industry forward" by offering "higher audio quality and the security of interoperability".
I'm going to go ahead and assume that everyone who just read the preceding paragraph is thinking "Wait, but the digital music industry
started with CD-quality sound and DRM-free MP3s - back before DRM even existed. How is this a move forward?"
That is a very astute observation, and I'm glad you asked. Apparently the digital music industry (including EMI and Apple) have realized that the road they have been moving down is a cul-de-sac. Probably because the reached the end and there's no way left to go but back where they started.
Luckily, for you and I both, this probably means the beginning of the end for DRM. After all, if people can get their music DRM-free, why would they buy music riddled with copy-restrictions?
On the other hand, the increased price may backfire on Apple, as the difference in price is getting smaller between buying the album on a physical CD, in a store, and ripping it DRM-free yourself or buying it on iTunes DRM-free.