Music giants join forces on web tunes

Three of the world's largest music companies have announced a venture to distribute music online.

In the same month that the US Congress began to hear submissions about the legality of the Napster file swapping service, Bertelsmann AG, The EMI Group and AOL Time Warner revealed a deal with RealNetworks for a subscription-based online music service.

The plan will involve the music giants taking a minority stake in a company called MusicNet. The three companies' music subsidiaries will then license their music to MusicNet on a non-exclusive basis, which will then make it available for secure download by subscription.

The announcement made clear that the MusicNet platform would be available to any other distribution network, such as Napster, as long as it satisfies legal requirements.

Napster said it was studying the proposal "with interest" and was boosted this month by the news that Prince will use the service to promote his new album.

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