Cupertino, Calif. - Apple on Wednesday announced the launch of its iTunes Store DRM-free music offering, iTunes Plus, which will sell songs in high-quality 256kpbs AAC format for $1.29.

The service launches with tunes from major label EMI's catalog, which includes artists such as The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra and John Coltrane.

Customers can still choose to purchase 99 cent versions of these songs that feature digital rights management (DRM) that limits their usage, as well as upgrade existing EMI song purchases from iTunes to the DRM-free format for 30 cents a song, or $3 for most albums.

"Consumers are going to love listening to higher quality iTunes Plus tracks from their favorite EMI artists with no usage restrictions," said EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli.

EMI also added iTunes Plus versions of its music videos to the store with no change in price.

Separately, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said it launched iTunes U, a new section on the iTunes Store that will offer free content such as course lectures, language lessons, lab demos, sports highlights and campus tours.

Initial participants include Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT.

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