EMI Music, whose artists range from the Rolling Stones to Coldplay, is granting a file-sharing network the rights to its entire digital music catalog, according to a published report.
The deal between London-based EMI and Wippit, a British company that distributes authorized copies of songs on its file-sharing network, allows Wippit subscribers to download as many songs as they want for a flat monthly fee, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday on its Web site.
Consumers keep the songs until their subscriptions end, the newspaper reported. It was not immediately clear what sort of use restrictions EMI has negotiated.
Major record companies have balked at that model, worrying that people would download large amounts of music and then stop paying the monthly fees.
Wippit has about 165,000 registered users, but only 5,000 subscribers who pay either US$6.50 monthly or the US$49 annual fee, chief executive Paul Myers said.
The record labels are trying to derail the popularity of file-sharing services such as Kazaa, which allow users to download songs for free. In recent months, a variety of paid online services -- led by Apple Computer Inc's iTunes Music Store -- have begun rolling out catalogs of downloadable music.
The EMI deal will enable Wippit, which only has 165,000 registered users, to add artists such as the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Norah Jones, Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys to its online catalog.
So far, London-based Wippit has been able to offer only about 60,000 tracks from 200 independent labels. Not included in the deal are the Beatles and a few other acts in the EMI family that have not yet agreed to distribute songs online.
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