Microsoft Deal Puts Old-Time Radio Programs Online for 99 Cents

A deal by Microsoft brings together old-time radio and new-time downloads.
Microsoft’s MSN Music arm signed a deal with MediaBay to make “golden-age” radio programs available online for purchase and download. The archive includes 1,400 shows including “The War of the Worlds,” “The Adventures of Superman,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Shadow” and “The Jack Benny Show.”
Shows from RadioClassics are available for download from MSN Music at http://music.msn.com. Most shows are 30 minutes and will cost 99 cents to download. The content is categorized by genres including comedy, westerns, sci-fi, superheroes and radio drama.
MSN Music is Webcasting a RadioClassics show free each day on the week of March 7. The first is the 1940 program “The Adventures of Superman: Baby From Krypton.”
Rob Bennett of MSN Entertainment also noted MSN’s recent agreements with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the Monterey Jazz Festival and said these moves demonstrate “MSN Music’s commitment to preserving America’s cultural heritage.”