NEW YORK (Reuters) - Custom CD maker Musicmaker.com Inc. said it has set a
licensing pact with Zomba Group which gives Musicmaker access to songs by popular
Zomba artists, including R. Kelly, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.
Reston, Virginia-based Musicmaker said Monday that the five-year pact is exclusive and that Zomba has taken
in undisclosed equity stake in Musicmaker.
Additional financial terms were not disclosed.
The Web-based custom CD maker has already inked alliances with more than 100 record labels, and has a roster of about 200,000
songs from which customers can put together on a CD.
The partnership will add thousands of tracks from Zomba owned labels, they said. The Zomba Group of Cos., headquartered in New
York and London, is the world's largest independent music organization with $800 million in annual revenues.
The deal provides the Zomba labels with the ability to offer secure digital downloading of selected artists once an industry standard is
recommended through the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), which is expected later this year.
The agreement follows an exclusive pact with EMI Recorded Music signed in June, under which some 500,000 tunes will be licensed
to Musicmaker, including works from Luther Vandross, Cher, NWA and Mel Torme.
EMI took a 40 percent stake in Musicmaker.
Shares of Musicmaker edged down 29/32 to 11-27/32 Tuesday.