MICROSOFT TEAMS FOR
FULL-COURT PRESSPLAY

Microsoft Corp. and online music service Pressplay have teamed up, making MSN Music an affiliate of Pressplay’s on-demand subscription service. Pressplay, a joint venture between Sony Music and Universal Music Group, will launch the music service later this summer.

Through the non-exclusive agreement, the MSN Music site will feature music from the Sony and UMG rosters as well as have access to Pressplay programming. Pressplay will in turn offer songs in Microsoft Windows Media (MWM) format and use Windows Media digital rights management (DMR) technology for content protection. This gives Pressplay not only access to one of the largest consumer networks, but audio capabilities also. The netco plans to offer the technology option to all its affiliates.

Pressplay President/CEO Andy Schuon, said, "MSN’s millions of users will help augment our distribution platform. And MSN has done a great job building up their music site. It’s great for Pressplay to be connected with their credibility. This is a new consumer proposition. It is the first on-demand, A-level, full-length music download option for the MSN music site." The MSN affiliation is the second notable partnership for Pressplay. The company entered an agreement with Yahoo! earlier this year.

"This agreement is another step in Vivendi Universal's global strategy to strengthen our content distribution via the Internet," said Jean-Marie Messier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi Universal. "Our ultimate goal is to deliver to consumers access to all music, all the time through multiple distribution platforms. And if that doesn’t work, Gates can come to your house and spin CDs on the ones & twos!"