MP3.COM RE-LAUNCHING MY.MP3.COM

The day after coming to terms with sole holdout Universal Music Group, MP3.com announced plans to restart its digital music storage service My.MP3.com service by the end of the month. It will now be offered in two options, one of which will charge for the service.

Announcement of the re-launch follows MP3.com's signing of a licensing agreement with UMG, which came after MP3.com agreed damages in the copyright infringement suit.

My.MP3.com shut down in May when a U.S. District Court ruled that the 80,000 album database violated copyright law an ordered MP3.com to pay damages.

The service will now offer two options. "One will be a free service that uses advertising to generate revenue but it will have restrictions on the amount of money you can load in the service," MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson told Reuters. "There will be a subscription version as well, without the intrusive advertising."

No price has yet been set for My.MP3.com, or whether it will be a monthly or an annual fee

On Nov.14, a court-stipulated sum of $53.4 million ended a bitter dispute over the online music site's use of UMG recordings.The music group has also purchased the right to buy up to 5% of shares in MP3.com at a later date for a price above the close of trading on Monday (11/13).

A one-day postponement Nov. 13 raised expectations of a settlement, but after talks fell apart, the court stepped in.

The amount, reportedly the largest single statutory award for copyright infringement ever, cleared the way for the licensing of Universal Music tracks to the streaming service. The amount awarded to UMG is more than twice that granted to any of the label groups that settled previously.

The terms for licensing—which is non-exclusive—are similar to those devised with the other majors.