OD2 launches UK music download store 1 day ahead of Apple

June 14, 2004

OD2 SonicSelector has launched its music download
service in the UK, just one
day ahead of Apple's predicted UK launch
date. Like OD2's other retail
partner's, it will offer music as pay-per-download and pay-per-listen. Consumers can listen to full tracks at
1p/1c per play and download tracks for 75p/99c a pop.

SonicSelector works through Windows Media Player through the
use of its proprietary plug-in and will work on Microsoft's OS only. It features a 350,000 library of songs
and purchased downloads can be recorded to CD or transferred to a suitable WMA
compatible player. GristyMcFisty submitted the following news via our news submit :

UK-based digital music distributor On Demand Distribution (OD2) today launched its own a la carte download service, a day ahead of Apple's anticipated European iTunes Music Store launch.

The new service not only
provides downloads by a novel 1p-a-go on-demand jukebox
feature.

OD2's SonicSelector will be
made available through OD2's retail partners. One of them is UK cableco
NTL, which today said it was also touting Napster's download and
subscription services.

Other partners include MTV,
ISPs Tiscali and MSN, and PC maker Packard Bell. SonicSelector is
available in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

OD2 announced last summer
that it would offer a download service alongside its traditional
subscription-based offerings. Coca Cola's MyCokeMusic was the first to use
the new system when it launched in the UK this past
January.

The Windows-only
SonicSelector is backed by a 350,000-strong song catalogue - half of
Napster's 700,000 selection, a figure Apple is also expected to tout
tomorrow.

With the recent launch of Napster in the
UK, this service will at least add
some competition to online music services in the UK. With several music download services
running in the UK and
Europe,
it will be interesting to see how it competes once it does finally start up in
Europe or the UK.
iTunes was one of the first to start-up in the
US and so
far it is in no hurry to
start up elsewhere.