Not that the merger of EMI and Warner (which like
TIME Digital is part of Time Warner) is anything to
sneeze at. Music publishers are beginning to face
up to the fact that because it exists in the handy
form of information, music is ideally suited to
distribution via the Internet. There are still dozens
of important questions to be answered about how
exactly that distribution will happen how will
users pay for it? what format will the files come
in? but the industry is beginning to accept that
it will happen, and music companies are looking
around for strong Internet partners to pair off with.
When Time Warner and EMI become Warner EMI,
they'll have just such a partner in AOL.
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Microsoft Makes Beautiful Music Online
No, not that merger the other merger. Sure, the
massive merger between EMI and Time Warner's
music division, announced this morning, is a big
deal. But almost lost beneath the hullabaloo were
some other deals that will have enormous
consequences for the online music space in
particular, two deals involving our old friends from
Redmond, Washington.