MTV to sell music files online
By David Bauder
Associated Press
NEW YORK — MTV's online offshoot is launching a paid service for consumers to buy digital music files, the first such system with the cooperation of all five major record labels.
The new service, a partnership between MTVi and RioPort.com, Inc., will make about 10,000 music files available starting later this month through the Internet radio sites, Radio MTV.com and VHI atWork Radio.
Each of the labels — BMG Entertainment, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group — will offer files to download, said Nicholas Butterworth, president and CEO of the MTVi Group.
It's the second such new service to be announced this week in the wake of the legal fight over Napster, the free song-swapping site.
After being sued last year by the recording industry, Napster is under a federal injunction limiting what it may offer.
The venture's operators will offer music online for the same price it is available in stores — minus the CD jewel boxes and art work. Its advantage to consumers over Napster is that consumers can depend on its quality, operators said.
Music fans who hear a song they like over the Internet radio will immediately be able to click and buy the music.
"We want to make it even easier to get music legally than it is illegally," Butterworth said.
Earlier this week, RealNetworks said it would join with BMG, EMI and Warner to let music fans listen to and download songs for a fee.
Getting all five major labels to participate "is a major coup" for MTV, said Dannielle Romano, an associate analyst at Jupiter Research.
However, fans who buy music online appear more interested in a subscription service — such as the one planned by RealNetworks — than in paying for songs or discs individually, she said.
It's surprising that MTV can convince all five companies to participate, since many of them resent the television network for playing so few music videos, said Ric Dube, an analyst for Webnoize, which covers digital entertainment.
"To a certain extent its chances for success are irrelevant," Dube said. "It's more about MTV making its role with young people even larger than it is."
The venture lets MTV, with a successful television network and Web site, to enter music retailing. Butterworth said MTV's television networks would not discriminate against artists whose songs are not made available for sale, but they will more heavily promote those who do.
He predicted that by the end of the year, about half of the music played on MTV networks would be available for download.
Details about the financial arrangements were not released by the companies.
