This site goes a significant step further than imeem in making major-label music available at no charge to users and taking the majors further into ad-supported territory.  It should go without saying that the MP3 downloads are DRM-free.

We7 effectively gives away what subscription on-demand services like Rhapsody and Napster (which use DRM) charge monthly fees for.  Furthermore, whereas those services shut off access to music after a month unless the user pays the next monthly fee, we7 enables the user to get the music without advertising. 

We7 is essentially a preview of what MySpace is likely to offer when it launches MySpace Music later this year.  As each such service launches -- and attempts to leapfrog its predecessors with more compelling features -- consumers will get more rights to music without paying, and music companies will be placing more and more emphasis on indirect revenue models. 

At the same time, it would be overstating matters to suggest that we7 is currently much of a threat to Rhapsody (or even eMusic).  Even setting aside the fact that content from only one of the majors is represented -- and not exactly "frontlist" catalog at that -- the site has several limitations.  It's not possible to download or stream an entire album at a time (individual tracks must be downloaded or added to online playlists); the search engine is virtually non-functional; and browsing is an exercise in futility. 

Still, every time a site launches that offers consumers more rights to music for less money, it raises the bar for other sites while lowering the money bar for consumers.  Record companies will have a tough time managing their relationships with the proliferation of new sites that attempt to capture the fickle online audience without letting the latter bar slip too low.