Napster deal puts more music on net

TLC's music is now available for download

Record label BMG Entertainment has made almost 3,000 tracks available for download on the internet as part of its alliance with music service Napster.

Songs by artists such as TLC, Dave Matthews Band and Etta James can be accessed via BMG's own downloading program, and will later be accessible via Napster.

Shawn Fanning, founder of Napster

The music company announced its alliance with Napster last year.

Other music industry giants, such as Sony and Time Warner, are locked in legal action against the file swapping service, alleging it infringes copyright.

Napster enables users to access thousands of singles and albums free of charge and without paying royalties to the artists.

'Substantial growth'

But under the terms of its alliance with BMG artists will receive royalties when their music is downloaded.

Sami Valkonen is senior vice-president of new media and business development for BMG Distribution. He said he expected substantial growth in demand for digital downloads from major record labels as more music selections and compatible hardware become available.

"There is every reason to believe that this market will grow significantly this year because portable digital players are really coming to market this year in a big way," he said.

He added: "These players are supporting the legitimate formats that the majors (record labels) are using for downloading."

Big labels such as Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music and EMI Music are developing their own subscription streaming services to compete with Napster.

Napster also formed an alliance with the German independent music label Edel Music, one of the world's largest, earlier this year.