The Hollywood Reporter reports:
- The rush by major labels to offer legitimate music downloads continued Tuesday as Universal Music Group announced that it will offer more than 43,000 songs through a host of online retailers and music Web sites. The move by the world's largest music group comes less than a week after EMI Recorded Music significantly expanded the digital download rights it is giving consumers, including copying songs onto portable devices. Also last week, UMG and Sony Music Entertainment reached agreements to offer music through MusicNet, a digital subscription service that now has content from all five major labels. MusicNet's chief competitor, pressplay, also has agreements with all of the majors.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
I expect Universal's online approach will be as cack-handed as it was with eMusic.com. If you are outside the United States, you are SOL, even though you pay your subscription fees in US$, which when converted from Canadian pesos, means you get less for more.
However, for media companies and the net, U.S.A. (we're #1) means we are the world.
However, I should mention eMusic do work in the realm of treating the customer like a customer, and gave me a free month on my subscription.
2 - Moose
The problem with eMusic.com is not eMusic, but that the record companies gave them limited rights for distribution outside the US.
eMusic would love to have worldwide rights... hopefully, they will get more rights because of the change at Universal Music.
3 - jordan
the problem though is content. i've bought two semi-major label releases in the last....god knows how long. Spiritualized & At the Drive-In. There is no way any of these services are going to have anything i'm interested in. meanwhile the only worthwhile ones are shrivelling. and why mp3? cause the public knows what it is? i've been experimenting with .ogg, it's far superior.
the music industry should try innovation for a change. it won't kill them. maybe it could save them.