Related
Internal Links
External Links
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)
Puretracks Inc. on Tuesday said it is the first large online store in North America to offer music in the MP3 file format without anti-copying measures.
The company behind the Puretracks.com music store said it is immediately offering songs from artists such as The Barenaked Ladies, Broken Social Scene and Sarah McLachlan under a partnership deal with major independent labels.
The labels include Nettwerk Music Group of Vancouver, Arts & Crafts Productions of Toronto, the San Francisco, Calif.-based Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) and Beggars Banquet Records of London, England.
The tracks, offered in the MP3 file format, do not contain any digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.
DRM is a catch-all term for a broad range of technologies used by copyright owners to control how a piece of data, software or hardware can be used by others.
The measure is commonly used to restrict the ability to copy or transfer music or movie files such as those bought from sites like Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store or burned from a computer to a CD or DVD.
Puretracks is launching its MP3 offering with 50,000 songs, which it plans to expand with new additions every week. The songs are priced at 79 cents and up.
As a launch promotion, the company is giving people who register for its online newsletter a free MP3 download of the new Barenaked Ladies single Sound Of Voice starting on Feb. 27.
"So-called DRM can be used to support unique business models, like subscription services, that deliver value to music fans. But equally, there is also the burning issue of device interoperability — one that can no longer be ignored," Alistair Mitchell, Puretracks' president and CEO, said in a written statement.
"There is a time and place for DRM and there is also a time and place for selling music without it."
Mitchell's comments echo those of Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs, who focused attention on the problems that DRM can create when he called on the music recording industry to abolish DRM in an open letter on Apple's website Feb. 6.
Recording giant EMI has reportedly been in talks with online music services to offer DRM-free music.
Even Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said DRM is too complex for most people.
He reportedly told bloggers at a December 2006 meeting at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Wash., that they should simply rip their music tracks from CDs if they wanted to transfer songs between devices or computers.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- B.C. Premier Christy Clark says she is not happy with the RCMP decision to transfer a disgraced Alberta Mountie to the West Coast. more »
- Henrique's OT goal sends Devils into Stanley Cup final
- The New Jersey Devils will vie for a potential fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history after defeating the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern final, courtesy of rookie Adam Henrique's goal early in overtime. more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- Unloading of docked SpaceX capsule to start Saturday
- The privately bankrolled SpaceX Dragon capsule made a historic arrival at the International Space Station on Friday, and astronauts will begin unloading some of the 544 kilograms of food, water, clothing and other supplies its carrying starting Saturday. more »
- South Africa, Australia to share world's largest telescope
- South Africa and Australia will jointly host the Square Kilometre Array, which promises to be the world's largest telescope, the international consortium in charge of the project said Friday. more »
- Bonavista, N.L., 'coyote' was really wolf, tests confirm
- Wolves have not been seen in Newfoundland since around 1930 and were believed to have been hunted to extinction on the island, but genetic tests have confirmed that an 82-pound animal shot on the Bonavista Peninsula in March was, in fact, a wolf. more »
- Once-rare argus butterfly thriving thanks to climate change
- Global warming is threatening the existence of many species, such as the giant polar bear, but in the case of Britain's brown argus butterfly, it took a species in trouble and made it thrive. more »
- Yahoo scraps digital magazine designed for iPad
- Yahoo has killed Livestand, a tablet magazine, just six months after its debut on the iPad. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Government to shut down unique fresh water research area May. 25, 2012 12:31 PM The Experimental Lakes Area research facility in Northern Ontario is being closed down after 44 years of providing invaluable data to scientists in Canada and internationally, a decision that has stunned researchers and environmental groups.
Quirks & Quarks
- May 26: Before the Lights Go Out May. 25, 2012 4:15 PM A new book, "Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us", suggests that the unpredictable, unplanned, ad-hoc way our energy use developed in the past will shape our energy future.
Latest Features
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- Third B.C. salmon farm quarantined
- What a Greek euro exit could mean for Canada
- RCMP officer charged in fatal crash
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
