Less than two months after floating the idea to strip copy protection schemes from digital songs sold online, Apple’s Steve Jobs has persuaded EMI to go along.

EMI said it will make its entire digital catalog available for purchase on Apple’s iTunes Store without Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection, beginning in May.

Rather than MP3, EMI and Apple will make the songs available using AAC and at a higher bit rate—256 bits—than most songs available online—which are encoded at a rate of 128 bits.

The price for singles will be higher, too. DRM-free songs will be $1.29, a 30-cent premium over the DRM-protected songs, but the price of albums will remain the same: $9.99.

Read (BusinessWeek)