As you may or may not know, the Free Line will be turning the big “one-0″ January 21st. To help commemorate this event, we have something a bit different lined up. The details are bit sketchy at the moment, but rest assured, it will be worth it. We will announce the details as soon as all of the particulars are ironed out. Due to all of the research involved, today’s journey through the world of “free” will be slightly abbreviated. We will be back to our old self in a day or two. In the mean time…

The world of online music is growing faster than anyone expected. According to research firm IFPI, online music stores have made about $3.7 billion in revenue in 2008, a 25% increase from the previous year. Digital downloads now account for 20% of record sales. “Music companies have changed their whole approach to doing business, reshaped their operations and responded to the dramatic transformation in the way music is distributed and consumed,” said IFPI chairman John Kennedy in an interview with WebProNews. As impressive as that may seem, it still does not account for the 40 billion files traded illegally last year. “Governments are beginning to accept that, in the debate over ‘free content’ and engaging ISPs in protecting intellectual property rights, doing nothing is not an option if there is to be a future for commercial digital content.”

In other news, Lotus Notes is about to enter the world of social networking, in a way. Notes developer IBM is currently working on a plugin that will link the business software legend to LinkedIn. Aside from bringing various LinkedIn tools and features to Lotus party, the plugin will be able to display information about your contacts in a handy side bar. While it isn’t exactly “100%” as of yet, the new plugin makes a good thing even better. Expect to see the new tool sometime in 2009.

Finally: Microsoft news headlines are coming to an email box near you. ” You can get top headlines, headlines for a specific area like business or world news, or the latest stories related to a search you define,” says product manager Jacquelyn Krones. “You can set up as many different alerts as you want and send them to any email address associated with a Live ID.” While the idea might be new to Microsoft and the Windows Live family, it is definitely not a “new idea.” Trendsetters such as Google and Yahoo have been offering similar features for a while now. Windows Live Headline Alerts are available now for US residents only.