Nonsensor.

Words you'd never expect to hear out of my mouth or on my blog, I know. But these good-natured, somewhat annoying Canadians deserve your support.

I remember reading an article a while back in Wired talking about Nettwerk, the record label and management company best known for bringing us such Canadian heavyweights as Skinny Puppy and Sarah McLachlan. Their president has a lot of crazy ideas about how the music industry should be changing in the digital age, and he's right on with most things. And one of the craziest ideas? Give away the next Barenaked Ladies album for free, with no DRM. No catch. And Techcrunch reported that it is indeed happening. Amie St., the social music store hosting it, is down at the moment due no doubt to the popularity of this.

I say go download it regardless of your opinion of the band. This is a pretty crucial time, what with potential changes to the DCMCIA coming down the wire and people like Steve Jobs speaking out loudly against DRM. Downloading the Ladies' stuff sends an important message.

UPDATE: Should have read Arrington's last paragraph:

The songs will only be free through the first few downloads, and will start to rise after that. But even at full price, listeners are getting quality music, DRM-free.

So there you have it. I guess I have to downgrade the "definitely download" status to "even casual fans should buy this."