September 8 [14:00 EDT] -- Capitol will be the first major label to distribute a record on the Internet prior to retail outlets. The single "Electric Barbarella" from Duran Duran's upcoming album, " Medazzaland," will be available as of tomorrow on Capitol's new Web site (www.hollywoodandvine.com) a full month before the CD hits the stores.

Fan are being given three options: they can download a 30-second preview of the song for free; the whole song for 99 cents or an exclusive Internet mix for $1.99.

According to the L.A. Times, Capitol plans online sales of five other new singles this year. The Times is also reporting that AOL is expected to announce plans next week to sell downloadable music through its Hub area. Both Capitol and AOL are making use of the new Liquid Audio technology that debuted just three short months ago. The software allows copyright protection by digitally "watermarking" the music.

The Times points out that by Christmas, several electronics companies are expected to be marketing $300 CD recorders (CD-Rs) that will allow computer users to download a selection of songs onto blank CDs.