It seems that whenever you talk to someone about the music industry, the discussion eventually comes to the steep decline that has occurred in the past few years as the growth of digital downloads has affected the sales of CDs. Whenever I think about that decline, it's hard to see it simply because I still purchase a large quantity of CDs and only a handful of downloads per month. Still though, when I do download an album it always (and I mean always) comes from Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iTunes Store, primarily because I own an iPod.

While that may sound like a complaint, it really isn't because I have always found the iTunes Store very usable and the iPod very convenient, but the reality is that not everyone shares that opinion. For some users, the question of accessibility has become a major issue, and iTunes dominance in the market affects how accessible they view the market. This is not without warrant of course -- no matter the success of Apple with the iPod and iTunes; it is still a dominating product in a shrinking field. This view does not even take in the account of CD users.

With the beta launch this week of Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) MP3 store, Apple finally has a competitor that will be able to challenge iTunes with sales and prices, not to mention that the DRM-free (Digital Rights Technology) downloads will be playable on the iPod, among other portable devices. Amazon's DRM-free tracks are not limited to music from EMI Group PLC and numerous independent labels, either. Certainly both of these differences will aid the new Amazon "iTunes" store, but the very fact that it remains an online store adding an MP3 section means that it should fare well against a store dedicated strictly to media digital downloads.

Universal Music Group, a division of Vivendi SA (LSE: VIV), announced plans yesterday to test the sale of tracks without Digital Rights Management technology with vendors Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), according to Reuters. Notably absent from the trial is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iTunes Store, but DRM-free MP3 tracks will still be playable on the iPod, in addition to various other players.

Universal's trial run is set to last through January, allowing the largest of the four major music companies to "analyze such factors as consumer demand, price sensitivity and piracy in regards to the availability of open MP3s."

With the test run, Universal joins EMI Group PLC (LSE: EMI) as the only two of the four major music labels to offer DRM-free tracks for sale. Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) has remained staunchly in favor of the technology, while Sony (NYSE: SNE)'s BMG Music Entertainment has made hints that it may too explore DRM-free tracks, but remains with the protective technology.

Apple's absence from the trial could hint at record labels' displeasure with the company, or perhaps it's simply a method to ascertain a test run away from the third-largest music retailer. iTunes has offered EMI's DRM-free tracks as part of a new "iTunes Plus" service since late May. Those tracks run 30 cents higher than DRM-encoded tracks, but it is not known whether Universal will adopt a similar price scale during its trial.