A guide to DRM free Living

Magnatune founder and CEO John Buckman likes to say that his company provides "Internet music without the guilt," according to a recent interview at Creative Commons. We'd like to say, "Thank you, John," for selling music without the locks imposed by DRM.

Bleep.com is the highly successful online music store for UK darling Warp Records. If you're looking for electronic, dance and hip hop without all the DRM strings attached, visit bleep.com. Participating record labels include underground hip hop legends like Ninja Tune and Stones Throw records. All songs available as MP3s.

Zunior, "the little digital music store" offers full album downloads of a number of indie and alt-country darlings, including Neko Case and The Be Good Tanyas. Zunior takes a strong stand against DRM, believing that you should be able to play your music wherever you want. All songs available in DRM-free MP3 or CD-quality FLAC formats. Miss your album art? Album packages include PDF files of artwork and liner notes, so you go home happy. And at $8.88 per album, Zunior blows iTunes Music Store out of the water.

Nettwerk, the influential Canadian record label home to such pop giants as Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies and Dido, offers individual tracks and albums absolutely DRM-free. It's a great way to purchase directly from great artists who believe that DRM is bad for business and bad for fans.

CreativeCommons provides a great alternative to DRM'd music. Also, it's a great resource for learning more about music licensing. They regularly publish interviews with everyone from DJ Spooky, to Ottmar Leibert, to John Buckman, CEO of Magnatune.com.

eMusic.com is the 2nd most popular online music store (just behind iTunes) and the most popular DRM-free store, with all tracks available in MP3 format. That means you never have to worry about whether tracks downloaded from eMusic will play on your iPod, your Rio, or your Zen music player. They're guaranteed to play on any music player you own. With over 1,000,000 songs from over 3,800 record labels, and no DRM... eMusic looks pretty nice.

Project Gutenberg is the original purveyor of DRM-free eBooks. The project aims to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks that will be readable on any device you choose. When you obtain an eBook, you should not be locked into using one particular eBook reader. Instead, you should have the freedom to read that book on any device. All of the material available through Project Gutenberg is free of charge, including the complete works of William Shakespeare, Peter Pan, and the United States Declaration of Independence.

TellTaleWeekly.org is a one-stop source for audio eBooks, including the work of Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, H.G. Wells and Edgar Allen Poe. Starting from $1, enjoy these beautiful readings of classic stories. What's more, every file is free of DRM and guaranteed to play on any music player you own. Accepts payments in PayPal or BitPass.

LibriVox is a wonderful archive of audio eBooks, completely free from DRM. Highlights include recordings of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, and Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland.

LearnOutLoud.com is an audio eBook store where users can purchase CDs or MP3 downloads of books, ranging from educational non-fiction to classic fiction like Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.