Yesterday, Napster began selling DRM-free mp3 recordings individually and by album.  They claim to have over 6 million songs, comparable to the DRM-laden iTunes Store.

I figured I would check it out.  Following my usual routine to judge a music retailer, I searched for Morton Feldman.   One of the first things I noticed was that they carried the Flux Quartet recording of his String Quartet 2.  If you’re not familiar, this is a six hour long work in one continuous movement, and a notoriously difficult piece to play.  I have this piece on DVD-Audio, but I have never been able to listen to it on a portable music player.

iTunes carries the entire Flux recording, and sells it for $45, which is less than the 6 CD set, I believe.  But when I viewed this album on Napster, I saw that each of the 29 tracks was available for $0.99 each, but that you could buy the entire 6 hour album for only $9.95!

I am not sure if this is a mistake, or if Napster has some kind of different agreement with Mode that allows them to sell for this price.  Regardless, I bought the album.

As of this morning, the price is the same.  If you have ever thought of buying this recording, I would say now is the time.