They're also announcing the addition of Universal Music Group and Sony BMG to the MP3 DRM-less format (DRM-less as long as you buy the music), the last bits to complete their "majors" MP3 collection. We think the deal is hotness as long as you're OK with the fact that you're renting, not buying; well, you're now "buying" those ten tracks a month, in essence. [Zune]

For starters, NASA: You got the choice of the entire Beatles catalog, and you pick a song only because it contains a relevant metaphor? I mean, have you ever listened to Revolver? Wait, actually, you clearly must've, since Paul McCartney performed "Good Day Sunshine" in Nov. 2005 for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. If you're aiming at aliens, why not choose something a little less intelligible, like "Dig a Pony," "Come Together" or "Tomorrow Never Knows." If those weren't written for space aliens, I don't know what.

Next on my shitlist: EMI and Apple Corp Update: and Michael Jackson too. WTF???? I've been a lifelong fan of your stupid Fab Four, but you're giving six billion purple globules from the Crab Nebula a shot at digitally retrieving The Beatles before I get one single measly 99-cent download? How is that fair? (Of course, the complete Beatles catalog is already on my iPod, but still!)

And finally, a message to the Crab people: Don't trust these downloads. You'll see the file streaming into your antenna array and you'll be like, "Sweet! Free music!" But then you open the file, and you get this message on your Crab Nebula equivalent of Windows Media Player 11, saying that in order to enjoy this track, you need to get authorization from a central server. You click okay, and the message has to travel back to earth, taking another 50,000 years or so. Which may seem worth the wait, only the track itself expires in 30 days.

So good luck to you, purple Crab people. And GFY, recording industry. You have dissed me for the last time. [Network World via The Inquirer]

With a passionate team, a breathtaking vision and the 'pat.pending' technology to 'graft' relevant advertising/messages to music and video downloads, we're all set to create a music download revolution.

I thought graft was for politicians and burn victims, but it also means 10 seconds of sponsorship at the beginning of every DRM-free 128-kilobit MP3, according to The Register. The report added that advertisers would pay We7 what sounds like an unreasonable £0.30 to £0.60 per download (that is, up to $1.20 per song) and that listeners could earn the right to skip the ad after listening to it a few times. How many times, exactly? Three, four or five.

While it's unclear what kind of label support We7 has, the site has posted free samples, including tracks from Coolio, Dave Matthews Band and Hall & Oates, though not, strangely enough, from Mr. Gabriel himself. All songs are tagged with 10-second We7 promos. They're not so bad. In fact they sound like radio station identifications. But let's face it, if advertisers are really going to cover your $1 per song, they will most likely craft 10-second ads that hit you like a sledgehammer. – Wilson Rothman

About We7 [We7 via The Register]

Looking at this through the lens of our RIAA Boycott month, we can just imagine how our favorite organization would handle this news. Instead of giving away free music to kids who wouldn't even be able to afford buying it in the first place, the RIAA would probably (and may even still) find a way to crap all over the project. – Jason Chen

Project Page [Freemusic]