Warner, Real Team for Digital Downloads

ByABC News
September 11, 2000, 7:53 PM

September 11 -- NEW YORK (Reuters) Record label Warner Music Group and streaming-media company RealNetworks Inc. said today that they would jointly distribute music from Warner recording artists for digital downloading, beginning in November.

Warner, a unit of media powerhouse Time Warner Inc., will offer current singles and "Internet-only" tracks on Web retailing sites, including Amazon.com and Walmart.com, the online venture of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Some artists available for digital playback at the service's launch will be the Barenaked Ladies, Collective Soul, and Paul Simon. Following the debut, the service will be expanded to include more than 1000 hits from Warner labels such as Atlantic, Elektra, and Rhino.

Warner is the last of the Big Five record labels to announce a digital distribution initiative in the midst of a heated court battle against Redwood City, Calif.-based Napster Inc., a music-downloading site that the companies say facilitates copyright infringement and online piracy.

Recording companies have been accused of moving too slow in the digital sphere, as song-swapping programs such as Napster have become some of the Internet's most popular sites.

RealNetworks will host the downloading service, as well as prepare the music for online distribution, manage the digital rights, and provide customer support. RealNetworks' infrastructure will support several popular digital-playback formats endorsed by the music industry.