Great yet puzzling news regarding I.R.S. Records today: The label, thanks to the corporate efforts of Capitol/EMI, is releasing a big chuck of its back catalog to digital stores starting Feb. 10. Then through March 17, each week will bring a new batch of albums and tracks.

That last part is the puzzling part. Rather than just release whole albums, the label is taking a piecemeal approach by culling some key tracks from its albums. That might make sense if it was picking the random standout from a lesser-known album, but it seems to be doing nearly the opposite, issuing entire albums from the likes of Drywall (?) and Alarm guitarist Mike Sharp while pulling only eight tracks from Let's Active's catalog.

Why not just make everything available, or at least the full albums from which you pull tracks? There must be a business or legal reason behind the decision.

The heavy hitters on the I.R.S. roster already are available digitally, with albums by R.E.M. and the Go Gos in circulation. Perhaps a good response to this latest batch will spur those behind the effort to go the rest of the way and put everything out there.

Labels: commerce, music