HiFi Blog: digital audio goodness

[Yes, this is a picture of Jessica Simpson. What’s worse is that in the post that follows, I may try to convince you to shell out two bucks for a track of hers.]

Y! Music is offering a DRM-free MP3 for sale. DRM-free. Yes, I know Allofmp3 and eMusic have been doing this for ages, but unfortunately neither weigh as much as Yahoo! in the industry.

Part of a joint promo effort with Epic, what makes this special (apart from the fact it’s not riddled with laughable copy restrictions) is that the track you’re buying is personalized, in that your name is somehow pronounced in there somewhere (provided your first name is in their list). It’s a Jessica Simpson track (“Public Affair”—her latest single?) and it goes for $1.99—both of these are not really encouraging, but the thinking here is that you’re buying this in order to send the major labels a message: they can do without DRM (as Yahoo! Music General Manager, Dave Golberg, once suggested to them).

As Ian Rogers noted in the Y! Music Blog: “Dear digital consumer, even if you’re not into Jessica Simpson, and you’re not excited about spending $2 for a song, let me tell you, this is a bigger deal than you might think.”

Even though they acknowledge this, I’m not too sure that with this pricing we’re sending the right message. Why 2 bucks? Even if we finally get DRM-free MP3s someday, if we get them at an increased cost (2 bucks for a digital copy of a single track? kidding me?) it’s a Pyrrhic victory. Even $.99 is a bit much if you ask me. I’m with Yahoo! in their DRM-free campaign, but all factors should be weighed in.