By Sonya Rabbitte, 13 March 2001 16:27
NEWS BMG is reported to have agreed a deal that will see its artists' music used on a new digital format developed by Data Play Media. A mini storage disk will slot into a drive on PCs, stereos and handheld devices. It can be used to store, play and download digital music and video clips and, unlike Napster, claims to be pirate resistant. Record labels will be able to make money by selling discs containing encrypted music that can be unscrambled for a fee or by charging users to download music on to blank discs. Rival record labels EMI and Universal have also signed up to the new technology, but BMG's participation raises questions over its alliance with Napster. Music device manufacturers including Toshiba, Samsung, and SonicBlue, creator of the MP3 device, have also licensed the technology and plan to produce new equipment incorporating the necessary hard drive. According to the report in the Industry Standard BMG has said it hopes to sell music on the new format by this Christmas.
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