According to two music industry sources, Apple is in discussions with three top recording companies about having them follow EMI's example and offerings DRM-free songs. The talks are still in the early phases and no deals have been finalized, but it has been said that one of the record companies is close to finalizing a deal. Sony, we are looking in your direction. The interwebs have been swirling with rumors that Sony will begin to offer music without the digital rights management software, but they are still just rumors.

Last year Steve Jobs wrote an open letter explain that it was the recording companies that forced Apple to put DRM restrictions to their music sold on iTunes. If all the DRM restrictions are removed, you will no longer have to listen to your music only on your iPod or iPhone, you could finally stream you music and place it on other music players.

Talks with at least two labels have been taking place over the past few months, which means very little, unless Apple can get them agree to give them the rights to sell unprotected music. Some of the recording companies on Apples hit list consist of Universal, Warner, and Sony. These companies have started selling DRM free music through Amazon, Myspace, and Napster. Universal is expected to announce licensing to Microsoft for the Zune, so where is the love for Apple?

DRM is becoming a tricky issue, and we can only wait to see what the results of Apple's talks with the recording companies are.