Yahoo announces first totally DRM-free music

I won't even pretend that what you are about to read is, in and of itself, ground-breakingly significant. What I will say is that one drop follows another, and eventually forms a puddle...if it goes long enough, you might end up with a lake. Yahoo! Music has managed to get an RIAA-member label to release a digital album completely sans DRM.

Yep, that's right - zip, zero, nada in the way of copy protection, playability limitation, or use restriction. By an honest-to-goodness record label.

The album in question is teen sensation Jesse McCartney's Right Where You Want Me (I don't think he is of any relation to Sir Paul). Yahoo negotiated the deal with Hollywood Records, which is the label for other talent such as Breaking Benjamin. You can choose your format between MP3 and WMA, and will be available for purchase for $9.99.

Of course, this is one artist and one record. But you've got to start somewhere, and at least one label has. Could we be seeing more of this in the future? We can only hope...

While we're waiting (for certain theological locations to drop below the freezing point), tell us your thoughts on it all in our forums.