DRM-free mp3s from Norah Jones?

By way of an 'experiment,' Yahoo which, as far as we know, still has a gaping hole in its Music Unlimited, is selling, or trying to sell, three unfettered downloads at $1 per.

The idea seems to be to discover if music lovers will be willing to be ripped off as long as there are no Digital Restrictions Management consumer control mechanisms on the downloads.

Or as The Wall Street Journal puts it, "Blue Note Records and its marquee artist, jazz-pop singer Norah Jones, are selling her latest single through Yahoo Inc. as an MP3 - despite the risk that it may add to piracy problems.

"The move represents a small but significant retreat from one of the central tenets of the music industry's digital strategy. EMI Group PLC's Blue Note and other music companies are beginning to think they will have to sell some MP3-formatted music both to satisfy customer demand and to provide access to Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod for songs that are sold by online stores other than Apple's iTunes Store."

iTunes downloads are, of course, thoroughly polluted with DRM.

Blue Note yesterday began, "letting Yahoo sell mp3s of Jones's Thinking About You," and EMI Christian rock band Relient K, "also released two MP3s through Yahoo yesterday," says the story.

"All of the songs will come without any of the software that normally keeps users from making unlimited copies of songs they buy online."

Meanwhile, the vast majority of online music lovers continue to ignore corporate sites such as Yahoo's like the plague. Instead, they make full use of the independent services, such as the beleagured Russian site, AllofMP3.com, and the increasing number of web pages posted by the performers themselves to avoid the venal clutches of Big Four Organized Music cartel members Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG.

"This summer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment released an MP3 by pop diva Jessica Simpson on Yahoo Music, while the Walt Disney Co.'s Hollywood Records released an entire album by pop singer Jesse McCartney in the MP3 format," says Associated Press, adding:

" 'They're still looking at it as an experiment but the labels have really come a long way in terms of wanting to see how this works for them,' said Carrie Davis, a Yahoo spokeswoman, refusing to disclose sales totals for the Simpson and McCartney tracks."

In the real world of online music, DRM-free mp3s have been available for years.

Also See:
gaping hole - Yahoo Music Unlimited hack, May 30, 2005
The Wall Street Journal - In a Turnabout, Record Industry Releases MP3s, December 6, 2006
Associated Press - Major labels to offer unrestricted MP3s, December 7, 2006

And if you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.