Universal launches Lost Tunes download site

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 30-Jul-08, 11:50

LONDON - Universal Music has launched an online download store called Lost Tunes that is dedicated to exclusives, rarities and overlooked classics by artists such as The Walker Brothers, Oriental Sunshine and Mellow Candle.

Universal has made 134 exclusive albums available for download on Lost Tunes as part of its commitment to let music lovers buy rare material as digital downloads.

The initial batch of digital-download exclusives include The Walker Brothers' 'Live In Japan', three albums by the Comsat Angels, Bill Fay's eponymous album and UK blues band Nine Below Zero, among others.

A further 500 exclusive download albums are scheduled to be launched on the store in the coming six months. Future exclusives will also include never-before-released gems from the Trojan, Fiction and Decca archives.

Alongside download exclusives, the site features catalogue albums from a variety of artists, including Joni Mitchell, Scott Walker, Marianne Faithfull and The White Noise.

Other labels represented on the site range from Prestige, Verve and Impulse to A&M, Motown, Stax and Vertigo.

Downloaded tracks will work on any MP3-compatible fixed or portable device, including iPods, MP3 players and mobile phones.

The site features a "smart search" function, which allows users to browse by any combination of genre, decade and label. There are 38 genres and sub-genres ranging from progressive rock, electronica and dub, to jazz fusion, world, and spokenword.

Azi Eftekhari, head of digital and media for Universal Music Catalogue, said: "We wanted Lost Tunes to replicate the experience of going to a favourite local record shop where browsing and discovering music is a real pleasure and an adventure. We only include music that we love."

International versions of the Lost Tunes site will launch in the coming months.