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"Another company leaves  the grip of Apple's iTunes, though this time it's not a record label.  It's Pepsi.  After running a Super Bowl promotion for free iTunes downloads in 2004, Pepsi is gearing up to dole out more free music next year\u2014with Amazon.  Another promo that will be announced at the Super Bowl, the deal between Pepsi and Amazon has a few implications on the larger music industry and how it's treating downloads.  \nPushing for Sony and WMG to go DRM-free\nEMI and UMG content will be available for DRM-free downloads on Amazon, but not Sony BMG or WMG.  Should Pepsi's promo with Amazon be successful, it could further influence Sony and WMG to adopt DRM-free downloads in mp3 format.  And with reports of Wal-Mart planning to pull all Windows Media compatible downloads while requesting music labels to provide DRM-free downloads, the pressure on the record labels is coming from all sides.  \nOne possible hold-up on any brash decisions made by Sony and WMG could be the still-pending status of UMG's decision to permanently adopt the mp3 format for download distribution of its content.  So what we're left with is the usual: everyone but the record labels is pushing for change.  \nAccept Alternative Sales Options from Advertising, Already!\nThe success of Pepsi's promo with Amazon could hint at some alternative ways to leverage advertising to supplement music downloads. According to reports, this still isn't good enough for the record labels, as the price paid per download for the promo would be about 25-30 cents less than a regular download from a consumer.  With the upcoming promo maxing out its free downloads at 1 billion, why the hesitance from record labels to agree to bulk rates?  Just take the money and find more ways, like Pepsi's promos, to get your content downloaded!\n[via  billboard]\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2007/11/30/pepsi-amazon/>