The BBC has actually done this at least once in the past. A while ago, they released recordings of the BBC Orchestra playing Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 6-9 in MP3 format, for free on their website. I jumped at the chance and downloaded them, and still listen to those recordings occasionally.

You may not have noticed the terms of service for downloading those recordings. They were online for a short period of time (10 days?). After they were no longer available online, you were supposed to destroy any local copies, too.

I'm not saying listening to the tracks now is wrong, but it is against the TOS. Some might argue that this demonstrates a need for DRM.