ZOMBA TO DOWNLOAD
Independent music company Zomba Recordings, whose artists include little-known teen acts Britney Spears, NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, announced yesterday (8/14) that it will sell digital downloads of its music beginning this fall, according to Webnoize.com.
Amplified will handle the digital distribution and Reciprocal Music the digital rights management for Zomba. The company's partnership with Amplified opens up several online retail options, as Amplified already offers digital music distribution through Borders, CDNow, Tower Records, National Record Mart and Musicland.
Back in May, the company had set summer as its target for the availability of downloadable music on the Web. Now, it appears it will be a few more months before joining Sony Music, EMI Recorded Music and Universal Music Group in the digital fray. BMG, Zomba's U.S. distribution partner, will likely launch a domestic downloadable music service by September.
So far, Warner Music has yet to announce its digital intentions, although there is speculation that the company has upward of 1,000 albums encoded and ready for release.
At presstime, there was no word on which Zomba artists will release digital tracks or on the price.
