U.K. Music Label Creates a Vinyl-MP3 Hybrid

From an article in Wired (emphasis is mine):

The records are beautifully packaged, double-weight vinyl discs that come with a unique code. With the code, buyers can download an unprotected, 320Kbps MP3 version of the music, to use however they like.

Publishing MP3s without the technology for digital-rights management was a deliberate choice. First Word cofounder Aly Gillani explains the DRM-free approach in terms that echo those of consumer advocate. "Once a customer has paid for the track they should be free to play it in any player," he says. "Making a legal, paid-for version of the file less useful than a copied or pirated one doesn't make sense."

A Night In Tunisia

I went to a free concert at the Berklee College of Music (Recital Hall 1W) today. Walid Zairi (a Tunisian-born bassist) played five standards ("Whisper Not" by Benny Golson, "No Greater Love" by Isham Jones, "One by One" by Wayne Shorter, "Calypso Minor" by Abdullah Ibrahim and "Senior Blues" by Horace Silver) with a jazz quintet (sax, trombone, piano, bass and drums). It was a fun and interactive experience: musicians encouraged audience participation and half-jokingly asked if there was a singer in the audience for a blues song they played as an encore.