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Wednesday, June 6, 2001

RIOPORT, BEST BUY PACT
IN DIGITAL DOWNLOADS

Retailer To Offer Music From Major Labels, Surgical Advice From Major Burns
Thanks to a deal struck with RioPort, Best Buy will become the first traditional retailer to distribute digital downloads from all five major labels. Financial terms of the deal were not available.

In April, RioPort announced it would provide the same service for the MTVi Group (hitsdailydouble.com, 4/4).

RioPort will begin offering downloads through Best Buy’s website either later this year (if you trust The Wall Street Journal) or this summer (if you believe Variety). The downloads will initially include 8,000-10,000 tracks in several formats, according to Variety, with the number of tracks expanding as the labels continue to digitize their music catalogues. The price per download will range from 50 cents to $2 per song or from $12 to $16 for each complete album.

The pact expands on Best Buy's digital distribution plan, which dates back to the last millennium. Way back in May 2000, Best Buy partnered with Liquid Audio and Supertracks for digital downloads (hitsdailydouble.com, 5/15/2000).

RioPort has download-distribution agreements with Sony Music, Warner Music, BMG, EMI and Universal.

 
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