EMI chomps at the bit ahead of music goldrush

NEWS UK music fans have been snubbed by EMI and Virgin who are offering sales over the internet in Sweden instead. The admission comes from an EMI spokesman, following news that EMI and Virgin have teamed up with Swedish company, Buylando to allow music consumers to buy albums over the net. The spokesman told silicon.com that EMI has the rights to go ahead with a similar scheme in the UK and had hoped to have something up and running by Easter, but said research at this stage showed that consumers are not ready to buy online. "We would be ready to team up in the future as we believe we have a lot to offer," he added. The deal in Sweden follows an agreement reached recently in the US, which enables music file swapping company Napster to license music from 150 independent European labels. The EMI and Virgin albums will be available to music fans on http://www.buylando.se and will include artists such as Massive Attack, Gorillaz and Mariah Carey.