Article from News.com:
In what may be a first for a major-label recording artist, Maverick Records and Vivendi Universal's online division are asking listeners to pay just under a dollar for an unprotected MP3 version of a new single.
The companies put the track, a dance version of "Earth" by Meshell Ndegeocello, online Thursday on sites run by Vivendi Universal Net USA, including MP3.com, RollingStone.com, GetMusic.com and MP4.com. People can purchase the file for 99 cents and then burn the song to a CD-ROM disc or transfer it to a portable device. The companies said subscribers of EMusic's MP3 music service will be able to download the track as part of their memberships.
Ndegeocello is releasing a new album, "Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape," June 4 on Maverick/Warner Bros. Records. The original version of "Earth" will appear on the album.