Contact Information: Contacts: Amber Webb OverDrive, Inc. 216-573-6886 x220 John Meadows Nettwerk Music Group 323-301-4200
Chart-Topping Music Titles to Be Available for Download From Libraries
Music of Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan, Delerium, and Others to Be Available to OverDrive Member Libraries
| Source: OverDrive
CLEVELAND, OH--(Marketwire - June 19, 2007) - Music lovers will soon be able to download
and fill their MP3 players with chart-topping tunes -- using their library
cards. Depending upon the territory within which the OverDrive partner
library lies, titles from artists including Barenaked Ladies, Sarah
McLachlan and Delerium will be available to lend from their websites as a
result of an agreement between OverDrive, a digital media provider for
libraries, and Nettwerk Music Group.
More than 5,000 libraries in OverDrive's network now provide download audio
books, eBooks, music, and video that library patrons can browse on the
Internet, check out, and download to portable devices. Titles are
automatically returned when the lending period is over, eliminating overdue
fines.
"We are responding to our library partners' requests for an expanded
catalog of popular digital media -- and music in particular," said Erica
Lazzaro, Senior Content Acquisition and Licensing Counsel at OverDrive.
"Our relationship with Nettwerk was a natural fit; with Nettwerk's focus on
exploring new avenues for distribution -- libraries represent a real market
opportunity."
A Vancouver, B.C.-based record label, Nettwerk is known for its creative
ways of promoting and distributing music. They are credited for
popularizing multiple artists using grassroots movements.
"We are excited that libraries will soon be lending Barenaked Ladies tunes
to music fans around the world," said Steven Page, lead singer of Barenaked
Ladies. "This is a market we haven't tapped yet, and it's a great
opportunity to expand the reach of our music."
Nettwerk works to make music more freely available to fans by leaving the
traditional record sales model to find new ways to profit from music
(concerts, ring tones, etc.) Libraries are one of the many new places
Nettwerk is offering their music.
"The vision of Nettwerk strongly parallels that of libraries," said Terry
McBride, CEO of Nettwerk. "We both work to make entertainment and
information broadly available to the public."
The agreement will initially add about 130 Nettwerk albums to the more than
100,000 audio book, eBook, music and video titles OverDrive offers,
including over 5,000 music titles. OverDrive will demonstrate how
libraries can lend Nettwerk titles via download to their patrons at Booth
#617 at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington,
D.C. June 23 - 26, 2007. OverDrive download music is available for PCs and
portable MP3 players that support Microsoft Windows Media (.wma). To see if
your library is a member of OverDrive's network, and to find titles of
eBooks, audio books, music, and videos available from public libraries, go
to www.overdrive.com/search.
About OverDrive, Inc.
OverDrive is a leader in providing world-class infrastructure for
downloading premium digital content. We deliver secure management,
protection and download services for hundreds of publishers and
institutions (rights holders) and thousands of libraries, retailers and
distributors serving millions of end users. With a global catalog of
premium digital titles -- including current best sellers -- of eBooks,
audio books, music, video and (coming soon) games & interactive software
presentable in a single platform, OverDrive offers the industry's best
selection as well as the option to manage, protect and download proprietary
content. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH.
www.OverDrive.com
About Nettwerk Music Group
Nettwerk Music Group is Canada's leading privately owned record label and
artist management company, responsible for managing some of North America's
biggest artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies
and many others. Nettwerk has several offices located around the world
including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Nashville and London; with the
main office in Vancouver, B.C.
Housed within the multifaceted company's record label are a host of
fantastic artists, spanning genres from Bluegrass to electronic, from Latin
alternative to pop singer-songwriter, including: Old Crow Medicine Show (as
seen on CMT and heard on A Prairie Home Companion), The Be Good Tanyas,
Delerium (featuring Sarah McLachlan), Kinky (Ciudad's LA Latin Artist of
the Year), Neil Finn and The Finn Brothers (of Crowded House fame), Chantal
Kreviazuk (songwriter for Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne
and more) and many others.