Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment have secured a massive distribution channel for their Duet subscription service, which is expected to launch this summer. Duet will be made available to visitors to the Yahoo! network and Yahoo!* Music web sites. According to Media Metrix, Yahoo! receives 185 million visitors per month worldwide. By comparison, Media Metrix estimates that Napster receives 16.9 monthly site visitors.
The on-demand Duet subscription service will offer consumers the ability to compile personalized playlists and to share them with other Duet members still while respecting artists’ rights. The service will provide users with the ability to compile personalized playlists and to share them with other Duet members, among other features. The Duet service is expected to launch with streaming music and plans to add downloads shortly thereafter. The service will offer titles from Sony Music and Universal Music on a non-exclusive basis. Duet also expects to offer music from other companies although no additional labels have announced plans to join the service.
“Yahoo! is pleased to join Sony Music and Universal Music, the world’s two largest music companies, to promote the Duet subscription service to U.S. music fans,” said Jeff Mallett, president and chief operating officer of Yahoo!. “We are committed to providing our active and robust consumer base with fast, easy and legal access to the music of their choice.”
“Sony is very pleased to work with Yahoo! to bring the Duet service to consumers,” said Howard Stringer, chairman and CEO, Sony Corporation of America. “Yahoo!’s strong brand recognition and tremendous consumer reach will greatly enhance the success of Duet, and the Duet service will provide a rich resource for consumers interested in accessing music securely online.”
Also commenting on the Duet deal agreement with Yahoo!, Jean-Marie Messier, chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal said, “Vivendi Universal is very excited about this agreement as it brings us closer to achieving one of our fundamental goals-providing consumers with access to all music, all the time. The number of consumers seeking music online is large and growing and we want consumers to have legitimate access to all their favorite artists and songs. We hope that other major music companies and independent music companies will join Duet.”
