Note: this post is part of the R/WW Files on Online Music.

In July, I blogged about a new company planning to sell recordings of concerts on USB sticks as you leave the venue. Since then I’ve actually found articles proposing a similar idea that dates back to 2004, although I believe it was a slow starter then. Nowadays, USB sticks have surpassed floppy disks and even CDs as the most popular way to physically move data around, plus they have a much higher capacity than they used to, and are more physically robust.

This is an excellent way of making money out of every live recording an artist makes — usually only one live recording is sold on through CDs/DVDs — and I think people would love to have a recording of the gig that they were actually at, rather than buy a recording through a record store of one random concert. The USB keys could be customised with artwork from the current tour, or contain video footage and photos from the show, which in-turn would make them more collectible.

Every week our sister blog, Read/WriteWeb, has a feature called Read/WriteWeb Files, in which they investigate a current hot topic or company in Web technology. This week they’re going to focus on Online Music, something that is becoming more and more prevelant as broadband speeds increase and social software functionality gets better. Here at last100, we’ll also be contributing to the Read/WriteWeb Files, with a series of posts on digital music services, devices and the state of the music industry. Our other sister blog, AltSearchEngines, will also be publishing a list of their Top 10 music search engines.

VentureBeat reports that Amazon has invested an undisclosed sum in AmieStreet.com. The social music site has a unique business model where all songs start off free and rise in price — up to 98 cents — the more they are purchased. Anybody can upload their music to AmieStreet (tracks are sold as DRM-free MP3s) and artists keep 70% of any revenue generated from sales. The site also reward fans when they recommend songs to their friends by giving them credit to buy more music, creating a social network around music discovery.

Last week we pitched Amazon as an underestimated player in the battle for the digital living room, noting properties such as the video on-demand service, UnBox, as well as their soon-to-be launched digital music store. Add into the mix user-generated review sites such the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), Digital Photography Review, and Amazon.com itself, along with today’s news of its investment in a social music site, and its clear that the e-commerce giant knows more about our digital lifestyles than ever before.

I woke up today and the sun was shining, and I’d like to think I had something to do with with it. Internet radio is still standing, at least for now.

Months ago I signed a petition to save internet radio, sent emails to my congressman, performed ritual rain dances in hopes that I could always listen to one of my favorite internet radio “stations”, Pandora. This morning I am happy to report that my Explosions in the Sky station is working just fine.