EMI to legitimise digital downloading
LONDON - EMI is to become the first large music group to allow people to download copyrighted music from the internet and burn it on to CD.
The company is expected to announce today a deal with Roxio, a digital media software company, to develop a secure and legitimate method of burning digital music on to blank CDs.
EMI has been under pressure to reduce its manufacturing and distribution costs since merger talks with Bertelsmann's music arm, BMG, collapsed earlier this month. The merger would have saved EMI about £200m annually.
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Music companies are keen to cash in on digital distribution, and the ability to burn music on to CD is important because consumers prefer to listen to music on their CD players rather than their PCs, according to analysts.
It is not clear how EMI and Roxio will charge customers, but it is understood that one of the options they are considering is a pay-per-burn pricing structure.
In separate news, EMI and rivals BMG and AOL Time Warner Music are reported to be close to signing a licensing deal with Napster, the controversial online music-swapping company.
Under the deal, Napster will be able to offer its 70m members access to the record companies' copyrighted music.
The deal, which has not been confirmed by Napster nor the other parties, is the latest in a string of alliances aimed at legitimising online music distribution. Napster expects to launch a secure, subscription-based song-swapping service this summer, while EMI, BMG and AOL Time Warner earlier this year announced MusicNet, a joint venture with RealNetworks to develop a licensing platform for their music.
www.emi.com
www.roxio.com
www.napster.com
www.bertlesmann.com
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