ReDigi raises $760k

UNLOAD USED DOWNLOADS! Did you know you can actually sell any album or track you bought from iTunes, just like you can sell used CDs? Neither did we. ReDigi, the Cambridge-based operator of an online marketplace for used digital music, has raised $760k in venture capital, Digital Media Wire reports, citing a new SEC filing. The free, cloud-based service allows users to store, stream, and sell legally purchased digital music, leveraging the first sale doctrine in the digital realm—and displeasing the record biz in the process. The hook is that acts who participate in the company’s Artist Syndication Program get paid every time a user buys or sells one of their tracks. ReDigi’s technology facilitates the transfer of a digital music files from one user to another in a manner that the company says doesn’t involve copying or file sharing. It handles only tracks originally sold on iTunes, which helps it authenticate the legality of the track in question, and also because unlike other digital music retailers, Apple’s user agreements don’t prohibit resale. (7/18a)