If you remember Beer & Coffee‘s release, you’re probably as surprised as I am that Goodbye Planet Earth made it to the Music Store in less than a month.

Well, it’s there! And it’s only $9.99 for the whole album. Granted, if you want high-quality DRM-Free tracks, you’ll need to get it from CD Baby or MySpace, and that’s only $12.99. But if you’re dying to get your copy of the new album from iTunes, it’s there!

And please leave a review on iTunes if you’ve already heard the album! Just CLICK HERE to go straight to the iTunes Music Store.

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, Goodbye Planet Earth, iTunes, iTMS, iTunes Music Store, DRM, MP3[/tags]

A few quick news flashes for you on a Friday…

First of all, Goodbye Planet Earth is now available for direct purchase via CD Baby. You can grab a copy either as a round piece of plastic or save some packaging and get it as an MP3 album for the same price. No DRM, no trash.

If you’re the MySpacing type, you can also grab DRM-free MP3′s from http://myspace.com/matthewebelmusic as well. It’s all the same price, so just pick your favorite store.

Also, I’ll be giving away one free song to anyone who can get a friend to sign up for the email list. If you can convince someone to sign up and list your email as a referral, I’ll send both of you an exclusive track I’ll be recording in January. If you’re not already signed up for the mailing list, just visit http://matthewebel.com/signup or hit the signup forms all over this blog.

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, Goodbye Planet Earth, CD Baby, DRM, MP3, free music[/tags]

News from the BBC:

One of the world’s largest hard disk manufacturers has blocked its customers from sharing online their media files that are stored on networked drives.

Western Digital says the decision to block sharing of music and audio files is an anti-piracy effort.

The ban operates regardless of whether the files are copy-protected, or a user’s own home-produced content.

(Emphasis added)

So if I use your drive the way you intend, I won’t even be able to share the music I’m making in my own studio? What crackhead in your upper management ever thought this would be a good idea? I mean seriously, the only thing this is going to do is make sure anyone who wants music on their network drive doesn’t buy from Western Digital.

Which is, to say, everybody who owns a computer.

You are not doing me a favor, Western Digital, you’re treating my customers like thieves before they even have a chance to buy my music.

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, Western Digital, corporate stupidity, DRM, piracy, gestapo[/tags]