The platform, inspired by Creative Commons and the notion of open software, is a collaborative effort between WFMU and others, including KEXP, dublab, KBOO, ISSUE Project Room, and CASH Music, all of whom work to curate the music made available on the site. Instead of fearing free downloads (as the music industry typically does), the belief here is that providing free downloads will actually encourage people to purchase music. Although all the tracks on the site are free, there are links that point to full album downloads which are not. Also, FMA users have the option of "tipping" an artist when they find something they like by sending money to the artist's PayPal account.

Obviously, the FMA is not a resource where you're going to find the latest Top 40 artists or classic tunes you know and love. This is because - let's face it - by the time you've heard of a band, someone has spent a lot of money making sure you did so. In other words, if you're not interested in seeking out new music, the FMA is not the place for you. For others, however, the site will be a treasure trove of discovery. You can delve into genres and sub-genres you may have never even heard of (Sludge? Glitch? Wow, I feel old now.)

To find good tunes to download, you can choose to browse by curator or genre using links at the top of the homepage. Next to each track is a down arrow button which saves the MP3 file to your computer. You don't have to register to download files, but if you want to take advantage of the site's social features, you do. Registered users can create friend lists, leave comments, become fans of the content, write blog posts, and create mixes.

If you're not sure where to get started on the FMA, WFMU's sample collections (Volume 1 and Volume 2) are good resources.

The Free Music Archive is in Beta right now and they promise that more features are coming in the future.

As far as we are aware, this is indeed the first time an academic journal has created this kind of explicit link between the academic peer-review process and the Wikipedia. The relationship between academia and the Wikipedia has always been an uneasy one, and it will be interesting to see how the academic community is going to react to this experiment.

Here is an excerpt from RNA Biology's new submission guidelines for its authors:

At least one stub article (essentially an extended abstract) for the paper should be added to either an author's userspace at Wikipedia (preferred route) or added directly to the main Wikipedia space (be sure to add literature references to avoid speedy deletion). This article will be reviewed alongside the manuscript and may require revision before acceptance. Upon acceptance the former articles can easily be exported to the main Wikipedia space.