Toronto, ON-based digital music store Puretracks has announced that it will sell a full catalog of MP3 music files for purchase and download, free of Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions. The new DRM-free MP3 catalogue will initially feature 50,000 titles from a number of major independent labels, priced from $0.79 cents per song. Additional tracks will be added on a weekly basis.

“DRM can be used to support unique business models, like subscription services, that deliver value to music fans,‚Äù explained Alistair Mitchell, President and CEO, Puretracks Inc. ‚ÄúBut equally, there is also the burning issue of device interoperability, one that can no longer be ignored. There is a time and place for DRM, and there is also a time and place for selling music without it. Together with the labels partnering on this undertaking, we’re blazing a trail by giving our users choice and ultimate flexibility to enjoy their music any time, anywhere.”

Unfortunately, the site isn’t currently friendly to Mac users:

Puretracks will need to address this is they want to get any mojo off the current anti-DRM buzz. Puretracks has partnerships with major independent labels, including Nettwerk Music Group, Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), Begger’s Banquet, and Arts& Crafts, and will include tracks from popular Canadian artists like The Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan, and Broken Social Scene.

To kick off the launch, Puretracks will afford all users registered to its online newsletter a free MP3 download of the new Barenaked Ladies single Sound of Voice. From the September 2006 album entitled Ladies Are Men, the track will be available as of February 27, 2007. Like all other tracks downloaded from Puretracks’s new DRM-free catalogue, the song can be played on any device, from a PC to an MP3 player, or even a music phone.

“Music should be allowed to flow from device to device,‚Äù added Ric Arboit, President, Nettwerk Music Group. ‚ÄúWhat better way to promote our artists than by having people experience their music without restrictions.”

“Interoperability and portability are everything,‚Äù continued Kevin Arnold, CEO, IODA. ‚ÄúFans want access to their music whenever and wherever they are, and there’s no better way to deliver on that promise today than the MP3.

“Fans who buy music should be free to experience and enjoy it as they wish,‚Äù noted Jeffrey Remedios, President, Arts&Crafts. ‚ÄúWe are thrilled Puretracks has chosen to put music lovers first. It is our view that this can only benefit our artists.

According to the IFPI Digital Music Report 2007, digital sales of music are expected to account for at least one-quarter of all industry sales worldwide by 2010. The digital music market, says Puretracks, doubled to about US$2 billion in 2006.