Maverick Records and Vivendi Universal's online division are asking listeners to pay a buck for an unprotected MP3 version of a new single.

The companies put the song, a dance version of "Earth" by Meshell Ndegeocello, whoever that is, online Thursday on sites run by Vivendi Universal Net USA, including MP3.com, RollingStone.com, GetMusic.com and MP4.com. People can purchase the file for 99 cents and then do whatever they like with it, be it burn it to a cd or upload it to your portable mp3 player. The companies said subscribers of EMusic's MP3 music service will also be able to download the track as part of their memberships.

"Sure, there is always a concern of piracy; there's always the concern of people illegally transferring things. But we feel the best way to combat that is by giving people a legitimate alternative, and this is a test to make that alternative available to them," Grady said.

Could this be the first logical step by the labels? Sure 99 cents might sound a little expensive for ONE song to people who use winMX or gnutella daily, but this might turn out to the record labels first step to accepting NEW technology.

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