Mike Torres makes an interesting point on the subject of online music services.  Use OPML to track, organize, and subscribe to online music services.

To date, I’ve shied away from online services because of the DRM issue, and the concept that I don’t actually have control of the physical media that I want to use.  The point that Mike is making, is that what really is important for our collections is the list of music.  The actual library of songs, albums, and meta-data releated to this music that is important.  The actual music files themselves can be had anywhere, but the information to complete the full details on your favorite CD is not.

Think of taking this to the next level, how about incorporating this with a service similar to Dave Winer’s Share Your OPML (SYO).  You can share your library of music and enhanced meta-data with other, but your not sharing the copyrighted songs themselves.  You could then use your published OPML library to subscribe to the actual music files on any online store you prefer, simply managing not just your library, but your playlists as well, from one central location.

Now this concept would get me to seriously consider online music options, which today I view as a total ripoff.