Has Hell Frozen Over?

So I was checking out eMusic today, ready to download the newest indie fare, when I could barely believe my eyes. There it was, for all to see- THE WHITE STRIPES & MOBY V2 RELEASES posted. Is it true? Have the majors awakened to the fact that DRM is a short term and flawed solution to piracy and a painless subscription model could actually work???

It really makes sense. Most of the people who were going to buy these releases at full price on iTunes for $9.99 or on CD at retail have already purchased it. I imagine some savvy soul decided they'd rather sell it at a reduced price in a universally available format and earn some revenue from it, rather than have any money they'd make from the catalog disappear into the 'torrent abyss. In addition, those eMusic downloads are also tallied by Soundscan.

If all the majors did this with "catalog" titles, eMusic's subscription base would grow significantly. An explosion in revenue would create a bigger pie to be divided by the labels/artists that might very well start to earn them more than the .65 per song you-know-who pays per track.

I wonder how many people would re-purchase GNR "Appetite For Destruction", Green Day "Dookie", or even The Eagles "Greatest Hits" if they would become available in the same way?

What a nice way to start a long weekend.

update: Check out this informative article on eMusic, which we found from our pals at Digital Audio Insider.