New EMI man talks DRM.

EMI Music's new digital president has spoken out about his opposition to digital rights management and promised "some really interesting" projects going forward.

The major announced last Wednesday that former Google chief information officer Douglas Merrill was to become EMI Music president of digital business from April 28.

The news marks the latest in a series of EMI appointments from outside the music industry, including adding former BBC director general Lord Birt to the major's supervisory board and appointing Terra Firma managing director Stephen Alexander as executive vice president of EMI Music Catalogue, Compilations, Studios and Archives (CCSA).

EMI says that Merrill will head a new global function bringing together responsibility for the company's digital strategy, innovation, business development, supply chain and global technology activities.

Merrill will report to EMI Group chairman Guy Hands, who spoke warmly of his new digital president's "experience, talents and his ability to drive innovation".

Merrill himself says that coming from outside the traditional music industry will help him to bring new ways of thinking to the conundrums that have bedevilled the music industry, such as DRM.

While EMI was the first of the majors to ditch digital rights management, announcing a year ago that it would sell its music without copy protection across digital stores including ...