Pressplay adds to music selection

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By Scarlet Pruitt, IDG News Service

(IDG) -- Despite a slow start out of the gates, online music subscription service Pressplay continues to gallop ahead, announcing Monday both a licensing deal with leading independent label TVT Records and new software to give users personalized music recommendations.

After months of anticipation, the major-label-backed service launched last December, along with a pack of rival services. Since then, Pressplay has been working to get a lead on the competition through advantageous licensing agreements and features.

Pressplay's agreement with TVT Records gives the service access to music from artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, and Naughty By Nature. The added musical content is immediately available through the service, a Pressplay representative said Monday.

Adding Partners

The service, which was formed by Vivendi Universal and Sony Music Entertainment, already snagged deals with bigwig EMI Recorded Music and a host of independent players. Pressplay is available through affiliate partners MSN, MP3.com, Yahoo!, and Roxio.

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Pressplay is hoping to gain a content edge over its main competitor, MusicNet, which is backed by AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann, EMI Group, and RealNetworks. MusicNet also launched in December. (AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.com.)

But user-friendly features also play a part in who will win this high-stakes race for users, and Pressplay has already gunned ahead with its CD-burning capabilities, which its main rivals have yet to adopt. Now, the service is adding personalized music recommendations to its covey of features.

The service is incorporating technology from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based software company MediaUnbound. Its software tracks subscribers' musical preferences and recommends music based on their tastes. According to the Pressplay representative, this feature will not be incorporated into the service until later this year.

Quest for Listeners

Michael S. Papish, MediaUnbound cofounder and chairman, said his company is unique because it combines a love of music with a solid technology. In addition to using computer algorithms to determine preferences, MediaUnbound also has a group of music "experts" who use their knowledge to make recommendations. Some of the experts are DJs and artists, Papish said, who know how to relate to listeners and create exciting playlists.

"We are about learning about people and what they like," Papish said.

And knowing what users like is the Holy Grail for online music subscription services, which already face the challenge of selling digital music to listeners who have come to expect it for free.

Users have learned the hard way, however, that the artists, publishers, and record companies behind the music need to get their dues. In related news, Pressplay also announced Monday that it sealed a deal with U.S. performing rights organization Broadcast Music (BMI), granting the service performance rights to 4.5 million compositions in the organization's catalog. BMI represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers in a variety of genres.