EMI, Universal and Warner Music – the same companies that only a few months ago charged Minnesota native Jammie Thomas the equivalent of $9,250 per song for every song she’d allegedly downloaded for free – have changed their mind about free online music downloads. According to the Times Online (UK), those companies as well as many other recording companies, have decided at last to embrace file sharing technology.

The reversal came as the music industry announced the introduction of Qtrax, a digital music service that promises a catalog of 25 million songs that users can download and keep for free with no limits. The catch if that Qtrax’s digital jukebox will feature some advertising – kind of like radio ads – and both artists and record labels will be paid based on download popularity. Nearly every song available will allow unrestricted use through the service. If Qtrax takes off, it could pose a serious threat to Apple’s iTunes digital music store, which charges 99 cents per track.

If this all ends up being as good as it sounds, maybe music aficionados can finally spend their hard-earned sawbucks on something other than a Brandi Carlile single; like maybe some wholesale fashion jewelry or an HDTV.

The only question remaining is whether Jammie Thomas is going to be let off the hook by the men in music-industry black suits.