• The NY Times finds roots in Sony BMG's DRM disaster in quotes by the RIAA's Mitch Bainwol. At this year's NARM convention Bainwol said in a presentation, "Burning and ripping are becoming a greater threat than P2P." His worries were backed up by research by NPD that said about 55% of consumers acquired music by legal means. The percentage of people who get music through burning or borrowing CDs: 29%. The media jumped on this story en masse, if you'll recall. The RIAA, along with NPD's report, had everybody convinced CD burning was a big threat to the industry. It turns out a legitimate threat in its own right has come from Sony BMG's inability to safely and properly fight CD burning.

• Virgin Digital launched its new online music service today. Virgin Digital Red Pass offers unlimited access to a catalog of music for $7.99 per month, almost half of what Rhapsody and Napster charge for their "music rental" programs. All downloaded tracks are certified "Plays For Sure," which means iPod users cannot play the files, and the Red Pass software works with only Windows 2000 and XP. Burning a track to CD will cost $0.99 per track. Downloaded songs can be played back on up to three computers. The service offers what it calls "free music insurance." Users can reacquire or re-license, at no extra cost, music that has already been purchased.

• Sean Nelson, singer for the band Harvey Danger, is the new head of editorial content at MSN Music. The move points to a change at the online music store toward content such as reviews and interviews. (Digital Music News)