RUMOR MILL
Back to Rumor Mill >
Tuesday, August 1, 2000

UMG TO BEGIN
DIGITAL DOWNLOADING

by

yes

Step One: Teach Record Execs How To Turn On Their Own Computers
Universal Music Group, the world's largest record label with about a 30% share of the U.S. marketplace, is expected to begin offering digital downloads over the Internet this week, according to published and online reports.

Reuters reports encryption provider InterTrust, a UMG partner, and music group executives were unavailable for comment. There was no indication which artists or how much of UMGs catalog would be made available.

UMG will become the third of the five majors to begin offering portions of its catalog for sale digitally. Sony Music, which offers songs by a handful of artists on its Web site, was the first, and earlier this month, EMI began its deployment.

BMG is expected to start offering digital downloads this summer, while Warner Music Group will make its move in the fourth quarter.

Universal's decision comes in the wake of the much-publicized court battles between the record labels and song-swapping company Napster and online music distributor MP3.com.

TAGS: yes
 
BACK TO RUMOR MILL
 
SPOTIFY Q1 PROFIT TOPS $1B; SUBS HIT 239M
How Swede it is. (4/23a)
Check It Out Now
HITS LIST IN
PLAYOFF MODE
Will scoring records be broken this week? (4/23a)
Check It Out Now
THE COUNT: ALL THE DESERT'S A STAGE
The dust settles on the Indio Polo Grounds. (4/22a)
Check It Out Now
ROCK HALL UNVEILS
2024 INDUCTEES
Class of '24 comes alive. (4/22a)
Check It Out Now
TOP 20: TAYLOR TIME
Is it ever. (4/23a)
Check It Out Now
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
 Email

 First Name

 Last Name

 Company

 Country
CAPTCHA code
Captcha: (type the characters above)

By clicking submit you are agreeing
to Terms and Conditions