MORE NEWS:Universal Plans Digital Music Distribution
Updated 9:20 PM ET July 19, 1999
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, announced plans Monday to make its recordings available for digital downloading by the next generation of portable playback devices.
Universal said it is developing software to make a broad array of its catalog compatible with a new version of the pocket-sized Rio player from Diamond Multimedia System Inc. and similar devices from Panasonic and Toshiba, all expected on the market this winter.
The new devices are to incorporate a new industry standard -- dubbed the Secure Digital Music Initiative, or SDMI -- for screening out pirated versions of copyright-protected music.
"This is an important first step in recognizing the tremendous potential of the digital music market," Larry Kenswil, head of advanced technology for Universal Music, a unit of Canadian-based Seagram Co. Ltd., said in a statement "Portability is essential for acceptance of new digital forms of music."
A coalition of music and technology companies, including Universal and the four other major record labels -- BMG, EMI Music, Sony Music and Warner Music -- approved a plan last month to a devise a secure compression standard that would thwart digital piracy.
Adoption of the SDMI plan marked a turnaround from the music companies' earlier fear of digital playback devices. And it came less than two weeks after a federal appeals court ruled that the Rio, which uses the popular MP3 format for compressing and downloading digital audio files from the Internet, did not violate copyright laws.
A number of major recording artists have individually released music over the Internet, including David Bowie, Tom Petty, Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Def Leppard.
And last month, EMI Recorded Music announced it had contracted with Liquid Audio Inc., a California company, to use its format to encode EMI's huge library of songs so they can be delivered over the Internet while protecting against unauthorized copying.
But Universal's announcement marks the first time one of the major record companies has stated its intention to make its catalog available specifically for portable devices that are SDMI-compatible, Universal spokesman Bob Bernstein said.
Universal Music Group comprises such labels as A&M, Decca, Def Jam, Geffen, Impulse!, Interscope, MCA, MCA Nashville, Mercury, Motown and Verve. Its catalog includes such artists as rap-rock group Limp Bizkit, country star Shania Twain, rapper Eminem and R&B singer Mary J. Blige.
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