EHY & SDC JV: wiredrecords launches Australia's first legal Digital Music Downloads...

Wins support of major international Record Companies; Signs first e-tailer agreements.

In what is an Australian first, wiredrecords.com, a joint venture between ASX listed companies Sanity.com and ehyou.com, has launched its long-awaited digital music service.

wiredrecords.com general manager, Richard Clarkson, said, "Digital delivery provides a whole new dimension to musical entertainment".

"It has had an enormous impact on the music business already. And now that it's a legitimate delivery system, the future for both music fans and artists, looks extremely promising".

The company has secured the rights to the catalogues of three of Australia's major record companies - BMG, EMI, FMR (Festival Mushroom Records), as well as several independent labels - giving consumers a comprehensive contemporary catalogue of music across all genres.

The artist rosters of the record labels participating in wiredrecords.com include David Bowie, John Farnham, Toni Braxton, Madison Avenue, 28 Days, The Living End, Santana and Motor Ace, to name but a few. It will also offer leading classical, jazz, opera and world music releases. wiredrecords.com will facilitate the sale of digital music for major and independent labels and unsigned artists.

The new concept will provide music retailers with a portfolio of services to sell licensed music content over the Internet and neatly addresses the growing problem of music piracy on the internet. Unlike Napster, which is currently under threat of shutdown, wiredrecords.com will partner with music companies to manage the sale of their music and to collect royalties for recording artists as well as providing technical support and marketing to music retailers.

"The worldwide boom in digital downloading and file swapping is robbing many artists of their livelihoods. The new service will protect their intellectual property and ensure that performers, composers and record companies receive proper payment for their work', says Clarkson.

Tim Prescott, Managing Director BMG Australia/New Zealand says, "There is a new generation of music fans with 'online savvy' - this exciting initiative will give them a legitimate way to access and download music. BMG is excited to participate in this first for Australian online retail".

Festival Mushroom Records managing director Jeremy Fabinyi said, "wiredrecords.com is a very exciting development and an important step in creating a legitimate market for secure downloading of music".

"There is no question that the downloading process will play an ever-increasing role in the delivery of music and we are proud to be partnering with another Australian company, wiredrecords.com, in this new venture".

EMI's Tony Harlow also welcomed the move.

"Digital delivery of music offers a tremendous opportunity for artists, music fans and retailers. EMI is committed to being a leader in making high quality, secure digital downloads available to consumers".

Initial delivery channels for wiredrecords.com will be sanity.com.au, chaosmusic.com. and MP3.com.au. Other participating music e -tailers will be announced shortly.

Digital downloads will range in cost from 50 cents for single tracks to as little as $10 for an entire album.

http://www.wiredrecords.com

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STREAMING CD

Digital downloads? What about a "streaming CD"?

"The Guitar Man", Robert Lee Johnson, writes:

MP3.com CEO, Michael Robertson, has just dreamed up the "Streaming CD." This is a CD that can be listened on the net only, or downloaded.

Imagine being able to buy a Commercial CD, as a streaming CD, at half the price of a physical CD. Do you think they would sell? I think they would.

I believe that within 3 years the "Streaming CD," or "Net CD" will be a viable means for record companies to market commercially recorded music, at half the price. With a "Net CD" listened to in streaming audio, the Manufacturing and Distribution costs are near completely eliminated. Manufacturing and distibution account for two thirds of the cost of any product that is sold. So to sell a "Streaming CD" at half the cost would render more profits than sellng a Physical CD.. That is pretty amazing.

All the computer nerds, near nerds, and computer illerates would eat the price up, and enjoy listening to their music on the net, plus they could make their own CD, is they had a CD burner. Pretty nifty isn’t it.

Michael Robertson thinks the "Streaming CD" with MP3 COM artists will sell. I don’t think anyone will buy a Streaming CD of the MP3 COM artists since they can stream the MP3 COM at no cost at all. Why should anyone pay for a Streaming Video of music that is already up for free streaming, and download. That would make no sense at all. However, the "Streaming CD" is perfect for the commercial world of music since the songs on the CD are not already up for free streaming and download.