Pearl Jam Bootleg Downloads

In September, Pearl Jam will make yet another fan-friendly move by launching their own online bootleg download store, beginning with a live recording of their sold-out concert at the Gorge amphitheatre on the 1st. Each recording will cost 10 bucks (er, USD, that is. Hey, that's less than £6 Sterling!). As usual, they'll be bucking the system a bit by releasing the hi-res files without Digital Rights Management.

The manager of the fan club says this on the site: "The decision to exclude the DRM is unprecedented for a band of this size, but it's consistent with the band's sensibilities . . . . We want to make it as hassle-free as possible for someone to listen to a show they've downloaded regardless of what music-playing device they use."

How cool would it be if more great bands could get away with doing this kind of thing. Guess most of them would have to bypass the big record labels that own them first. Keep it up Vedder and crew. One of these days maybe the rest of the music industry will follow your example.