Major record label EMI has entered an agreement with Snocap, a digital music distribution company, which would enable any website to sell the label's music through 'MyStores' - online shops that can be can be embedded to HTML pages.
MyStores give labels and artists an easy way to put MP3 stores wherever their audience happens to be, whether on the bands' official pages and social networking pages or those of fans promoting their favorite band - though Snocap doesn't pay a percentage of sales to individuals doing the embedding. Under the deal, customers will be able to purchase unprotected 320 Kbps MP3s that will work on any digital media player for $1.30 each, with full albums coming later.
"It's almost like you're giving the label a vending machine," Snocap's chief executive, Rusty Rueff, said. "They can fill it up and people can take it and put it as many places as they want. This allows the artists and the fans to have a chance to engage in commerce on the most popular music sites, like MySpace."
Snocap, MySpace's music store partner, has sold songs from independent labels and some of Warner Music Group's material that isn't covered by digital rights restrictions. However, this is their first deal with a major music label. The company and music label are hoping impulse buyers will purchase music where and when they first hear it.