Universal Music Group has announced that it will make more than
43,000 music tracks available to consumers for digital downloading
through retail outlets and music web sites. UMG said the downloads
can be burned to CDs and transferable to secure portable
devices.
According to UMG the digital tracks will be available for
purchase by consumers in the US for 99 cents for individual tracks
and $9.99 for albums. The technology behind the service is provided
by Liquid Audio, and users will be able to preview and purchase
music tracks in both the Liquid Audio and Windows Media
formats.
Earlier this month, Sony announced that it has teamed up with
nine distributors of digital music, including Rhapsody and
MusicNet, to allow consumers to burn a limited number of songs onto
blank CDs. Sony also said that it will offer users the option to
buy and download singles from forthcoming albums when they are
played on the radio.
In the past, most music labels attempted to sell digital
downloads, in order to compete with file-swapping services.
However, such downloads were only available through restrictive
monthly subscriptions and the tracks would expire when
subscriptions lapsed. Users were not allowed to burn songs or
transfer them to portable players.
