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Speculators speculate that because of its "strategic alliance" with Napster, Bertelsmann could be looking at Liquid Audio for technological help in converting the service into a subscription model.

BERTELSMANN WANTS LIQUID

And Not Just Because Of The Onset
Of Those Flu-Like Symptoms
With its purchase of Napster, its massive executive reshuffling and word of interest in EMI, few would argue that Bertelsmann is currently the most active in the music industry.

In addition to official confirmation of its desire to merge with Brit giant EMI (hitsdailydouble.com, 11/10), comes much speculation that the German media giant is also interested in online music service Liquid Audio.

News of talks between Bertelsmann and Liquid Audio was first reported by Webnoize last week and has been advanced by various news agencies.

However, Bertelsmann eCommerce Group spokesman Frank Sarfeld denied that there were any ongoing talks with Liquid, insisting that such reports were mere ''market speculation.'' A Liquid Audio spokesperson declined to comment.

Speculators speculate that because of its "strategic alliance" with Napster, Bertelsmann could be looking at Liquid Audio for technological help in converting the service into a subscription model.

Rumors of a Bertelsmann-Liquid Audio pairing were fueled by revelations that Napster CEO Hank Barry served as the lead attorney for Liquid's 1999 IPO, and that Barry's venture capital firm, Hummer Winblad, which backed Napster, is also invested in Liquid Audio. In addition, BMG Entertainment hired Liquid Audio to design a system that could integrate digital-rights management and transactional systems from various vendors to enable the sale of secure digital music.

Owning Liquid would also fill a major hole for Bertelsmann. While the company has digital-music content, distribution via Napster and CDNow and marketing arms through GetMusic.com, it lacks a full service technology to encode, secure and track its digital songs.

To date, BMG has hired such vendors as IBM, InterTrust, Digital World Services, Reciprocal, Digital Island and Liquid Audio to assist with its downloading projects.

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