Not a bad idea, but I still hate the idea of
pay per play being the only way to get my
music.
My plan is slightly different--a single CD or other music media purchase entitles you to the right to listen to all the music on that album, in any format, from any system, into perpetuity. This is similar to the My MP3.Com model, in a way, but cross-platform, cross-media, and fair. I'd also like it that if there is any authentication of this, it not be traceable to an individual purchaser (ie, not separate license keys, but some way of only having a single key per media.) I'd really like it if people were just self-enforcing like they are with tape recordings or with MP3 files now (Napster and sharing services where people don't have rights to music notwithstanding.)
Now, if you want to broadcast your music to others you can, but you pay a little more. You can also give them pay per play and split the money with the record company and artist, or you can sell advertising and share the revenue from that. Or you can work out some other deal. This is what ASCAP and BMI do now--radio stations pay a licensing fee to those companies, and are allowed to rebroadcast all songs under their umbrella (most commercial music.)
The key is that once you've paid for it, you've paid for it, but if you want to do one-time use as well, you can. And, of course, independent artists can sell and license their music however they want.
Basically, I want copyright law to be molded to digital media in such a way that artists can still make money and I can preserve my privacy, and don't have to pay every time I listen to a Marillion album.