It has finally happened! iTunes has gone DRM free for all its tracks from Sony-BMG, EMI, Warner Music and Universal Music as well as several independent labels. This news is a huge nail in the coffin for DRM as a whole.

The announcement, made by Apple’s Chief Marketing exec Phil Schiller at the keynote for the 2009 Macworld Expo in San Francisco. The changes to iTunes also include a change in the iTunes pricing model. Tracks in iTunes will start to appear at three different price points depending on what the labels want to charge for the tracks. The price points will be $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29. This is a significant departure from the “one-size-fits-all” model that Apple has used in the past.

Some people are complaining that the DRM free tracks rely on Apple’s AAC format which means that they’re less compatible than more widely used formats like MP3 and Ogg Vorbis.  But at the same time now that the format is no longer DRM protected, there’s nothing stopping other companies from supporting AAC on their media players.

So good for Apple.  Good for the labels.  And goodbye and good riddance to DRM.