Macworld.co.uk is reporting that Apple and EMI will be hosting a joint announcement on Monday, April 2nd.
The press invite reads:
Please join EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli at EMIs headquarters on Monday 2 April at 1pm London/8am New York time to hear about an exciting new digital offering, with special guest, Apple CEO Steve Jobs."
A special live performance from an unannounced artist will also take place.
Late last week, MacRumors had heard rumblings that Steve Jobs and EMI would jointly announce the dropping of Digital Rights Management for EMI's music associated with iTunes. We were unable to confirm, so we were unable to publish, but this invitation certainly adds credence to this story.
EMI has previously been rumored to have been considering dropping Digital Rights Management from their music. Add to this, Steve Jobs plea to the industry to stop forcing Digital Rights Manangement.
Macworld.co.uk speculates that this may also relate to the rumored Beatles / iTunes distribution partnership, but no new rumors on this have emerged.
(Note: This story is not an April Fools joke.)
Update: Reuters.co.uk confirms that a Beatles announcement is not likely according to their source:
"There is no Beatles' announcement," the source said.
Update 2: The Wall Street Journal confirms that the announcement will relate to removing Digital Rights Manangement:
In a major reversal of the music industry's longstanding antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC is set to announce Monday that it plans to sell significant amounts of its catalog without anticopying software, according to people familiar with the matter.
The London-based music company is to make its announcement in a press conference that will feature Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs. EMI is to sell songs without the software -- known as digital rights management, or DRM -- through Apple's iTunes Store and possibly through other online outlets, too.
