U2, the only band to have had an official iPod model made in its honor, has dropped the DRM from its music catalog for the first time. All 19 of the band’s full-length releases (including some special editions with bonus tracks) are now available on the Rhapsody MP3 store for $10 a piece, or $20 for double-length releases that contain bonus tracks.

Rhapsody began selling 256 Kbps, DRM-free MP3s in late June on the same day the company announced partnerships with iLike, MTV and Yahoo. This also represents a new development for U2, whose manager Paul McGuinness has been a vocal supporter of the movement to kick file sharers off of the internet if they are suspected of infringement for a third time (the British appear to have adopted a slightly more lenient policy).

McGuinness also said Radiohead’s name-your-price sale backfired). However, the band’s take on the music industry appears to be quite different, with Bono contradicting his manager by coming out in support of Radiohead’s “courageous and innovative” model.

U2 has sold 170 million albums during their long career and was the focus of the impressive concert film U23D earlier this year.

- Eliot Van Buskirk, Wired.com

Related posts:

• Herald: U2 may play freeU2 may play in a free concert coinciding with November's G20 economic summit in Melbourne. A concert has been booked for November 17 at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, modelled on last year's Live8 concert in London. As with Live8, the free concert would raise awareness of the Make Poverty...
• U2 manager Paul McGuinness on The Joshua Tree On the 20th anniversary of the release of the Joshua tree, U2’s manger Paul McGuinness talks to Phantom 105.2’s John Caddell about the album that is widely regarded as one of the best rock albums of all time. Hear what really happened when the video for Streets was closed...
• Video Store Mag: U2 Super Bowl performance on DVDUSA Home Entertainment and NFL Films will pull off their own last-minute surprise when they street the VHS and DVD versions of New England Patriots Super Bowl XXXVI Champions March 5 (VHS, $14.95; DVD, $19.95), just 30 days after the Super Bowl. The program is now in its eighth year...