A commercial on this year's Super Bowl will promote free music downloads from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)'s new MP3 store. The company has lined up the four largest record labels to offer music without digital rights management. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) only has a similar relationship with one -- EMI.

According to The New York Times, "Consumers who buy Pepsi drinks will receive points that can be redeemed for music downloads at a special section of the Amazon site. Amazon and Pepsi, a brand of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), will give away up to a billion songs."

The deal may be born from the music industry's hatred of Apple as much as from any love for Amazon. Industry estimates indicate that over 70% of all song downloads come from iTunes. That puts Apple in a position to dictate pricing and revenue sharing to the major music labels. With CD and physical album sales falling, that leaves music publishers in a bad position.

The dark side of the alliance with Amazon is that it has to work well. If music companies fail in their attempt to get around Apple, they may have to come crawling back to be "friends" with Apple again. That set of meetings may not go well.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

According to Billboard, the Recording Industry Association of America is pushing the major labels to "discuss whether a new physical format is needed as an alternative to the CD." Although the RIAA is attempting to make sure that any new format is shared among the labels, I can't help but wonder what the point is.

I've repeatedly noted the demise of the CD and the growth of digital sales in the three months I have blogged here. Frankly, I don't think the RIAA has the labels' best interest in mind by pursuing a new format to replace the CD. That format clearly already exists in digital downloads. Why not seriously re-invest in the CD as a marketable format, rather than seeking yet another competing format?

Remember when the CD came out? People cried out about the death of vinyl. They've been crying about the death of the CD for a while now (I'm in that group), but let's face it: Digital formats are here to stay. The MP3 and other media files that can be played on pocket devices like Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod and cell phones are easy to access, and though the transition from CD to digital file is slower than the switch from vinyl to CD was, it is still occurring (imagine what the iPhone may do to this situation). None of this counts to satellite radio subscribers who need neither a CD nor a portable player because their radio receiver is portable (this may be a generalization -- the few people I know that have XM or Sirius have stopped purchasing CDs and don't own MP3 players).

If the RIAA is worried about the compact disc, a new physical format is not the answer. Any new format will face the same competition with digital files that the CD is facing now. Either re-invest and change the CD or make the transition to digital files smoother.