There are a couple of ways to look at EMI's deal with the Daily News that will offer free downloads from the News' website to purchasers of the print version.

This deal marks the beginning of a new EMI and a fresh approach to generating revenue from its catalog. This one deal isn't going to change the company's fortunes, but it is important for symbolic reasons.

On the other hand, one has to wonder why this type of partnership had to be born from a private equity acquisition and management overhaul. What is preventing companies from marketing their catalogs in radically different ways that generate adequate returns? That's what this deal points to: A lack of creativity by the other three majors and a good portion of the indies. Different ideas aren't going to be enough. Radically different ideas are needed. Everybody's throwing things against the wall to see what sticks...but most often they're all aiming for the same part of the wall.

There have been few new ideas that represent this sort of shift in thinking. Here are the ones that stand out.:

One is Nokia's Comes With Music, a great combination of hardware and service. Sony BMG's MP3 cards, although universally scoffed at, shows a new way of thinking about non-traditional formats at non-traditional retail. Matador's "Buy Early Get Now" is a jump forward in approaching the timing and packaging of music. Selling downloads of original songs for use in video games (such as Guitar Hero) allows users to enjoy music in a totally new setting. And, of course, Radiohead's tip jar album release that preceded the standard CD and digital launch, which showed how simple distribution can be.