Sony's 'classic' catalog comes to eMusic
As part of its attempt to brand itself as the music store for grown-ups with good taste, eMusic will be offering Sony Music recordings that are at least two years old.
Subscription music site eMusic has inked a deal with Sony Music to bring selections from the label's catalog--"classic" recordings that are at least two years past their release date--to the online retailer starting in a few months.
eMusic hasn't had the biggest footprint in the digital music retail space of late, falling well behind iTunes--and some say that Amazon MP3 has grown bigger as well. eMusic was one of the first players in the space to offer music free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions, which a few years ago more or less meant that the big labels wouldn't go anywhere near it and that its offerings were largely limited to independent music.
Now, eMusic has been trying to brand itself as the music outlet for people who know and appreciate quality music. Calling itself the "Internet's corner music store," it uses a combination of editorial and "crowd-sourced" methods to sift out and recommend new music picks. In other words, this is not where you buy party music by Katy Perry or the Jonas Brothers.
"The site, geared to adults over the age of 25, will contextualize albums and songs from Sony Music's renowned artists," a press release explains, "drawing meaningful connections between 'major' and 'indie' artists, and featuring in-depth discographies and collections built around genres and themes."