With EMI's deal to sell high quality, DRM-free MP3s through Snocap (read press release), downloads have become untethered from online retail. EMI artists have Snocap widgets on the artist websites, and Blue Note has a widget on its page. Tracks will cost $1.30 apiece, in line with prices for similar files at iTunes.

What has been overlooked so far is, to me, one of the biggest parts of the announcement: Albums will be made available through Snocap "later this year." To date, Snocap has sold only individual tracks. It has not been a cost-effective source for EPs or albums. Cherry picking at $1.30 per track is a fair deal, but a typical ten-track album would cost $13.00 through Snocap (outside of the country genre, most albums have more than ten tracks). If EMI prices its DRM-free albums the same as at iTunes, that would be $10.00-- an amount that covers almost seven a la carte tracks purchased at $1.30 each.

One problem I see is some artists' Snocap widget do not give any details on the file format or sound quality. It's basic information that should be readily visible. Not all Snocap-enabled downloads are MP3. People will want to know if the format is WMA.