It’s all about the download. Or, to be specific, eMusic’s 100 millionth download. It was last December when Brennan downloaded “Diamond Ring” by Mississippi Delta bluesman Fred McDowell from the music service, thus setting the benchmark for those eMusic subscribers following in Brennan’s mouse clicks.

And as a reward for hitting the big 100,000,000, Brennan is immortalized in a new Barenaked Ladies Song.

Titled “Michael Brennan,” the song describes the 48-year-old visual artist as independent-minded and curious, names Brennan’s kids and jokingly states that he also “created chips and dip.”

But aside from Brennan’s sudden taste of fame, it’s noteworthy to point out that eMusic’s 100 millionth download occurred only 11 months after the subscription music service logged its 50 millionth download.

Unlike other online music stores, eMusic eschews any digital rights management, preferring instead to use the unprotected MP3 format for its downloads. Using a subscription model starting at $9.99 per month for 30 downloads, eMusic deals in music recorded by independent artists.

“Michael Brennan” is currently available as both a stream and free download at eMusic, and will be bundled with the band’s new album, Barenaked Ladies Are Men, on eMusic for the next five months, thus ensuring Brennan’s legacy for the ages.

Out Of Tune

Close but no cigar.

That’s the word over compatibility problems between Apple’s iTunes software and Microsoft’s new Vista operating system. Evidently, Apple has cleared up most of the problems between its software and Microsoft’s, but there are still a few bugs yet to be worked out.

Apple posted a warning on its Web site when Microsoft first shipped the new operating system saying iTunes and Vista weren’t quite operating in perfect harmony and warned iTunes users to hold off from upgrading their computers to the new OS.

But Apple removed that warning March 5th, stating that the latest version of iTunes –v7.1 – will work with most editions of Vista. However, the latest iTunes fix is far from perfect, for Apple also warned of possible iPod corruption when the player disconnects from a computer.

And there are other problems. For instance, in its latest warning, Apple said some users might experience difficulties syncing Windows contacts with iPods.

So, most problems have been corrected, and running iTunes and maintaining your iPod with a computer running MS Vista shouldn’t be a problem. Right?

That is as long as you never disconnect your iPod or try to port a contact list from your computer to your player. At least until Apple and Microsoft start singing the same tune.

But at least iTunes will work with most versions of Vista. And when you consider who makes Vista, that’s a major accomplishment in its own right.