Full Audio Signs BMG Catalogue

FullAudio, a “cache-download” music subscription service, has signed a licensing agreement with BMG Music Publishing.
BMG is the music-publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, the $17-billion global media and entertainment enterprise that stepped in to back the music-swapping service Napster. BMG says unlike its competitors, it refused to settle with Napster following the lawsuit brought by music publishers and major labels, including BMG, earlier this year.
According to FullAudio, the deal represents the first agreement between an online music-subscription-service, separate from the performance rights that already have been granted.
The agreement will allow FullAudio full access to BMG’s music catalogue, which includes more than 700,000 copyrights to music from songwriters and composers.
FullAudio expects to launch its service as soon as it secures licensing agreements with other major publishers, something the company hopes will now be easier with the BMG agreement.
“We could probably launch with just three publishers and continue to work on the others, but the main advantage that we have is that our technology is finished and ready to roll out at any time,” said T. J. Snyder, spokesman for Full Audio.
Look for more in the next “Web Watch” column in the Internet Radio section of Radio World newspaper.