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Digital
eMusic signs up EMI
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 20 May 2011
eMusic, one of the oldest digital music services, now has deals in place with all four majors, having agreed a licensing arrangement with EMI.
eMusic, of course, was very much an independent music service in its early days, though mainly because the majors didn’t like the fact it sold DRM-free MP3s and had a one-price-fits-all bundled music approach. However, once the majors learned to live without DRM, Sony and then Warner signed up, and last year Universal followed suit, but only after eMusic agreed to change various things about the way its bundled-download subscription system worked. Changes which led to several key indies quitting the service.
Confirming his business now had deals in place with all four major music companies, eMusic CEO Adam Klein told reporters: “Whether it’s indie rock, jazz or classics, the majors distribute a huge amount of that music, so you can’t be a comprehensive site in those genres unless you have them”.