Justin Timberlake, released by Sony's Jive label, will soon be available in MP3. This big news we found buried in a report that Sony BMG, the last of the four major record labels to hold onto copy-protection software, is finally going to embrace the MP3 format. The inevitable decision has generated a lot of drivel from mainstream publications about how industry titans are dropping DRM, whatever that is, and banding together to overthrow Apple's stringent 99-cents pricing regime. Amazon.com, the copy-protection-free alternative they're embracing, is more flexible on the cost of individual tracks.

Whatever. Here's what you really need to know: Timberlake's label is participating in a Pepsi Super Bowl promo that's giving away 1 billion songs, in MP3 format, through Amazon's music store. Sure you could rip Timberlake's songs from a CD yourself, or purchase the PG-rated iTunes version, but the masses have never been able to purchase the superstar digitally without annoying restrictions on the use of the tracks.

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