BMG MUSIC HEARS FULLAUDIO

Unaffiliated online-music subscription company FullAudio has negotiated a licensing pact with BMG Music Publishing. It is the first catalog-wide license granted by a major publisher for an online, music download service.

FullAudio’s President of Music Services, James Glicker, is a former BMG executive. The company plans to provide a platform for music downloads that would allow files to be kept in subscribers’ computers and accessed for as long as subscribers pay the monthly fee. A FullAudio spokesman said the monthly subscription fee hadn’t been set, but is expected to be less than $20. The service will be available as a stand-alone or provided through other distribution partners.

The license from BMG allows the company to offer all compositions to which the publishing company owns the rights. Neither MusicNet—which includes BMG, EMI and WMG—or pressplay—which counts Vivendi and Sony among its backers—has been able to secure publishing rights for their services, even though their partners are in that business.

FullAudio says the deal is a prelude to obtaining licenses from all five major labels and pubberies. The spokesman said the service will launch once it obtains licensing from record labels for recordings.

BMG Music Publishing President Nick Firth says the company has been very aggressive in seeking new media opportunities. "We’re proud to be the first major publisher to license our entire catalog to a download subscription service. Now, can I get to FullAudio through Napster?"

Said Glicker: "We are able to deliver CD-quality music at a much lower cost than streaming services, savings that Full Audio can share with consumes, record labels and publishers, artists, songwriters and composers. Maybe we can even afford an ad in the HITS Internet special."