There are a few reasons why reports of the Philadelphia Orchestra's distributor-free digital strategy caught my attention. First, this article was in Stereophile Magazine, a publication that seems at odds with the audio quality of compressed digital files. This orchestra's downloads are available in MP3 as well as the high-quality FLAC format -- both DRM-free formats. Stereophile seemed happy about the availability of FLAC.

Second, the orchestra is circumventing distributors and selling directly to consumers. It's not even taking the 80% that Musicane would give it. If 100% of its own sales is better than 80% of what greater distribution could offer, then it should sell its own music (assuming start-up costs aren't a problem).

Another issue is DRM. By choosing to sell its own downloads, the orchestra taps into the consumer demand for DRM-free music. (It's more and more an issue these days. People don't seem as contanet with Apple's walled garden as they used to be.) That could easily generate enough goodwill and additional sales to make up for missing out on iTunes huge customer base.