NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- BuyMusic.com(tm), the world's largest legal music download store, was launched July 22 by Company founder and CEO Scott Blum in New York's Times Square.
Designed for the 150 million PC users in the United States, the entire music store is powered by Microsoft technologies, including Windows Media 9 Series and Microsoft.NET framework. The site offers access to approximately 300,000 tracks at launch, with more to be added every day. Individual songs will sell from 79 cents and albums from $7.95 from the top five record labels and thousands of independent labels or "indies."
"BuyMusic.com will help turn the music industry right side up," said Blum, whose new venture is a brand new entity, and his largest to date. "There is no other site legally offering anything of this magnitude. The recording industry is behind us 100 percent, and consumers are about to experience a whole new revolution in the way they purchase music."
"We are pleased to make our catalog available to what will be an important addition to the online music marketplace," said Joe DiMuro, Executive Vice President, BMG, Strategic Marketing Group. "BuyMusic.com will offer tremendous value both to BMG and our artists, as well as to music fans who will be impressed by the accessibility, consumer experience and music selection."
"EMI is pleased to be offering its works to BuyMusic.com," said Ted Cohen, Senior Vice President of EMI Digital Distribution and Development. "Their service adds yet another dimension and more choice to the growing number of legitimate outlets for consumers to buy music in flexible, downloadable and portable formats. It's a win-win proposition: record labels, artists and consumers will all benefit from BuyMusic.com."
"This is another example of an online music service that offers consumers exciting ways to enjoy music legally," said Cary Sherman, President, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "This is what our multi-pronged campaign against illegal file sharing is all about -- creating viable opportunities for new and existing legitimate services to grow and thrive in a dynamic online music marketplace."
BuyMusic.com shoppers will enjoy easy shopping with no monthly subscription fees. Anyone who has access to Windows Media Player (WMP) version 9.0 (a free software download at BuyMusic.com) can begin downloading songs immediately. The site will also store purchase information and bill a customer's credit card as they go. Music lovers can enjoy 30-second full-quality previews of every song.
"We are doing things differently at BuyMusic.com," added Blum. "The new buzz phrase is no longer MP3 players, but 'digital music players' or DMPs, and refer to any device that is compliant with BuyMusic.com's format and DRM technology. In addition to offering more songs and catering to the PC industry, BuyMusic.com will also offer video tutorials explaining how to use the BuyMusic.com web site, download music to a DMP, or burn a CD. We wanted to make sure this store is the easiest place to download music."
The site will also offer the ability to view BuyMusic.com commercial spots. A hardware store at BuyMusic.com will offer the latest in digital music players (DMPs), CD recorders, CDR software, CDR media, personal music hard disk storage and BuyMusic.com "Get Loaded" T-shirts.
About BuyMusic.com(tm)
BuyMusic.com is the world's largest legal music download store for the country's 150 million PC users, offering more songs at a lower price than any other legal music web site. The Aliso Viejo, California-based BuyMusic.com, which is a brand new entity and has no affiliation with Buy.com, is available to anyone with a PC and Windows Media Player (a free download at BuyMusic.com). For more information, please visit www.buymusic.com or call 1-800-BUYMUSIC.