MP3.COM ELIMINATES THE MIDDLEWARE

MP3.com, the quicker-picker-upper, has announced its latest online music product, Internet-only versions of albums, dubbed "netCDs." Besides bringing in more revenue to the netco, the goal, according to the company, which notes that netCDs "reduce the need for traditional cases and covers," is to save the environment and listeners’ money. How noble of them.

When consumers buy a netCD, it is immediately stored in a My.MP3.com locker, where it remains as long as a person keeps their account or the sun burns out and the Earth becomes a cold, lifeless rock hurtling through space, whichever comes first.

Using additional software, netCDs can also be downloaded to hard drives, uploaded to portable MP3 players and burned on CDs—which kind of defeats the purpose.

Artists set the price of the netCD, from $3.99 to $30. Cutting edge artists such as Common Sense, A Flock of Seagulls, Christopher Cross, L.A. Guns and Roger McGuinn have already released netCDs. Okay, maybe "artists" was too strong of a word, but you get the point.

CEO/Chairman Michael Robertson took a moment from issuing press releases to say, "The netCD service represents an important step toward MP3.com’s goal of providing consumers with the best options for purchasing digital music. We believe CDs are a viable product and will be around for a long time, unlike most music web companies."

In trading today, the shares of San Diego-based MP3.com rose 15 cents to $2.85 on Nasdaq.