| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 28, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
| ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| ENTERTAINMENT
Cyber Music Wars TRADITIONAL LABELS The Big Five, including EMI Group and Warner Music Group, are gearing up to deliver music online securely later this year using a scheme called the Secure Digital Music Initiative, or SDMI. This will allow digital copying, but only as the labels authorize. PORTALS AND E-COMMERCE SITES Yahoo!, America Online, and Amazon.com vie to be music distribution hubs. Yahoo!'s bid for broadcaster Broadcast.com and AOL's $400 million purchase of Net radio Spinner.com and music-software maker Nullsoft follow the acquisition route, while Amazon began offering digital music downloads in June. CYBERLABELS Industry vets such as former Capital Records Chief Gary Gersh and Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz are launching virtual record companies that harness the Web's ability to distribute and market music globally at low cost. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
|  |
 | |
RELATED ITEMS Commentary: Are Music Companies Blinded by Fright? TABLE: Cyber Music Wars INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
