BMG TO OFFER
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS

In a move that has been expected for months, BMG Entertainment will launch its digital download service in September with approximately 50 individual songs and 50 albums available at a variety of Web retailers.

The label plans to sell digital versions of its songs across a variety of genres, including top-selling acts such as Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Santana.

Prices will range from $1.98 to $3.49 for individual songs and $9.98 to $16.98 for each full-length album, Sami Valkonen, BMG's VP of Business Development told Reuters.

Valkonen also said BMG was open to a variety of subscription models, but was skeptical about the so-called "all-you-can-eat" model, in which users can download as much music as they like for a flat monthly fee.

"We don't really believe in the all-you-can-eat model for a couple of reasons," Valkonen said. "One is that it doesn't give you the advantage of mass customization that allows you to target certain music to certain customers. Also, our research shows us that customers will download all the music they want in the first two months and then not use it very often after that. And unless they proactively cancel the service, they're being charged for something they don't get much value from. That's not very friendly to the consumer.''

BMG will offer music through a network of retail partners, including the Internet arms of traditional retailers as well as retailers that are exclusively on the Web.

BMG competitors UMG, Sony Music and EMI have already begun offering portions of their respective catalogs digitally, while WMG will make its move in the fourth quarter.