MacRumors.com

9to5Mac believes that Sony BMG will soon begin offering their music catalog to Apple in the iTunes Plus format. iTunes Plus is Apple's marketing term for higher quality (256kbit) audio tracks without any copy protection (DRM). Apple first started selling iTunes Plus tracks from EMI in May, 2007.

Despite Apple's willingness to sell DRM-free music, the other major record labels have withheld this ability from the company in an effort to reduce iTunes' marketshare in digital music downloads. The biggest beneficiary appears to be Amazon who currently offers DRM-free digital downloads from all four major music studios.

Sony BMG's iTunes participation would leave Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group as the remaining Apple holdouts. If true, Macworld San Francisco could be a possible announcement date for the new agreement.