Sony Music and eMusic, in a joint statement, said that songs at least two years old from Sony Music artists could be purchased by US eMusic subscribers starting in the third quarter of the year.<\/p>\n
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
Sony Music labels include Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, LaFace, Legacy Recordings and RCA and the artists whose songs will be available for purchase through New York-based eMusic include Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and OutKast.<\/p>\n
“We’re excited to bring Sony Music’s vast catalog of music to eMusic’s customers,” eMusic chief executive and chairman Danny Stein said.<\/p>\n
“We welcome the opportunity to expand the reach of Sony Music catalog artists online to include eMusic’s large and passionate subscriber base,” said Thomas Hesse, a Sony Music executive.<\/p>\n
EMusic, launched in 1998, allows subscribers to download a certain number of music tracks a month for a set fee.<\/p>\n
Its basic service allows subscribers to download 24 songs a month for $11.99, less than the price charged per song by Apple’s iTunes.<\/p>\n
EMusic claims on its website to have a catalog of more than five million music tracks.<\/p>\n