Musicmatch, Inc., the leader in personalized music software and services, today announced its new Musicmatch(R) Downloads service, the first service on the PC that allows consumers to purchase and download music from a broad catalog of music from all five major labels and more than 30 independents – with no complex, restrictive usage rules. The new service offers effortless access to high-quality, personalized music and the ability to purchase while listening to CDs, MP3s and Musicmatch Radio. Musicmatch downloads can be purchased now at www.musicmatch.com.
Until today, legitimate PC download services forced people to pay a subscription fee, or required additional payments to burn tracks or transfer to portable players. All Musicmatch downloads have the same, simple usage rules, without a subscription. Customers can play tracks on up to three PCs simultaneously and transfer them to Windows Media-supported music players. Tracks can be burned to CDs, but the same playlist may only be burned up to five times. The flexible new service, combined with high-quality content and effortless music purchasing, marks a new phase in legitimate downloadable music for consumers.
“By offering consistent and fair ownership rights, breakthrough music personalization, convenient purchasing and the highest quality files, our service is better than any free illegal alternative,” said Dennis Mudd, Musicmatch chairman and chief executive officer. “The Musicmatch Downloads service is the best way for people to find, buy and enjoy music that matches their unique tastes.”
Find More Music
Using the Musicmatch patent-pending music personalization technology, the service helps music fans find the artists, albums and tracks that most closely match their personal music tastes. Musicmatch scours the music universe to find music that individuals will most likely enjoy and delivers it to them each time they log into their account. Fans can also browse the extensive Musicmatch web of inter-related artists to find new artists and easily sample and purchase the most popular songs. The service also allows customers to browse through the most popular music by year from 1960-2003, and through more than 100 distinct music genres.
The Musicmatch Downloads service offers consumers more than 200,000 songs for download from the five major labels and more than 30 independents. Thousands of tracks will be added each week, with 500,000 tracks available by the end of the year.
Buy Instantly While Listening
Radio continues to be the number-one driver of music sales, and only the Musicmatch Downloads service lets consumers easily purchase tracks while they listen to them on Musicmatch Radio. Customers can view album reviews and artist bios, and purchase songs or complete albums while listening to CDs and MP3s. Musicmatch also shows the most popular tracks for each artist, making it easy to build an extensive collection of favorite songs.
Enjoy High-Quality Music Anywhere
Musicmatch downloads are provided as 160-kilobits-per-second Windows Media files and can be played on more digital audio players than any other service. Devices supporting secure Windows Media Series 9 audio files play Musicmatch downloads – including more than 20 devices, such as all current Creative Multimedia and Rio portable players. Customers can also burn tracks and playlists to CDs to enjoy in the car, the living room or portable CD players.
“When it comes to ripping, burning and managing music files, I’ve felt Musicmatch is without peer,” said Rob Enderle, principle analyst for the Enderle Group. “Musicmatch Downloads showcases this continued leadership by providing the closest thing to an acceptable balance between what users want and the record industry’s needs; it improves on Apple’s iTunes and addresses the other 98 percent of the market.”
Pricing and Availability
Available to U.S. residents with a valid credit card, the Musicmatch Downloads service requires Musicmatch Jukebox 8.1, and offers tracks at 99 cents each and most albums for $9.99. The service is available now at www.musicmatch.com for PCs running Microsoft Windows 98 Special Edition, Millennium Edition, 2000 or XP, with Internet Explorer 5.5 or later.
