SA: Download music for R10

2004-12-14 10:43

Johannesburg - Musica has launched South Africa's first music download service - found on its website - which is comparable with any overseas service and it is legal and priced affordably for the country's market, the music retail group announced on Monday.

At the 'click of a mouse', music lovers will be able to download any song or songs of their choice for R10 per track. There are, however, discount packages for users that buy in bundles.

Musica MD Colin Robb said: "The international download market is growing apace and as South Africa's largest retailer, Musica, had to be the first to offer a download service here. Our customers would expect us to offer the service and, as they already know and trust our brand, we're confident that they'll feel safe and comfortable buying music online through the Musica website."

The retail group said depending upon the internet user's connection, downloading a track takes between a minute and 15 minutes. When selecting tracks, users can either hear a 30-second sample or pay 10c to hear the full 'stream' track before they download.

One of the main benefits of this service is that customers can mix and match their tracks and create their own unique albums and compilations.

"The whole focus on the international music scene is digital with every kind of digital product being exploited. For a while now, we've been encouraging the South African industry to go digital and the fact that the biggest retailer here is the first one to offer a digital service - and that will help curb piracy too - is amazing," EMI Records marketing director Pino di Benedetto said.

"Consumers want to consume and use music in different formats and digital downloads is the format of the future."

Musica is currently talking to local record companies encouraging them to realise the benefits of digitising. It is estimated that about 20% of the local record industry is already digitised.

Watershed's Craig Hinds welcomed the service as it would also help combat piracy. However, he was uncertain whether album sales would be affected adversely or not, to which Robb said: "With downloads, the consumer chooses and this might lead to music being marketed differently in the future."

In welcoming the launch, Johnnic Communications (Johncom, JCM) group marketing director noted that: "These are legal downloads with all music stakeholders receiving their due royalties. Well done to Musica, anything that legally spreads music is to be welcome. Johncom is looking forward to working with anyone that promotes proper distribution of its entertainment and other interests."

Johncom owns Gallo music brands and has retail and home entertainment (DVDs, videos and games) interests. Gallo is home to a range of South African artists such as Amor, Mango Groove, Miriam Makeba and Skwatta Kamp.

- I-Net Bridge (News24)