But DiDia admits that he would not have used MP3 to promote established artists. "Until some controls and a way of regulating downloads, locks, keys, are figured out," he says, "I don't want to give away music from a popular artist that's selling records already." DreamWorks does post free tracks from such major artists as Henry Rollins, Randy Travis, George Michael, and Chris Rock--but never more than a handful of songs. And there's the rub: They'll give some stuff away now as a marketing device, but not enough to cut into the sales machine.
Since anyone with a PC is a potential MP3 fan, though, it may be just a matter of time before mainstream record companies take their Backstreet Boys, B-52's, and Bach to the masses and work with the format. This transition would be a minor victory for those of us who remember switching technological gears and buying CDs of records we already owned. And it would be a major victory if it brought better quality, more portability, and, ultimately, less-expensive music to us all.
