Artemis Records has inked a digital distribution deal with Altnet, the commercial music offering that runs on peer-to-peer networks KaZaA and Grokster, among others.
The deal covers Artemis acts including the Pretenders, Lisa Loeb, Steve Earle and Warren Zevon.
Tracks cost 99 cents, and albums cost an average of $9.99.
When users search for Artemis acts on KaZaA and Grokster, the first listings they receive will be tracks for sale through Altnet. Listings for free unauthorized downloads will be available too, but they will be listed below the commercial tracks.
Jordan Flaste, Artemis director of new media, calls Altnet “an effective sales and anti-piracy tool.”
Altnet — a subsidiary of publicly traded Brilliant Digital Entertainment — now offers music from more than 30 independent labels. Altnet, which is trying to convince the major labels to sell their content through the service, is pointing to its deals with indies as proof of the validity of its service. Derek Broes, executive VP of worldwide operations for Altnet, has stated that such deals represent how “digital rights management technology and peer-to-peer technology can be leveraged.”
In other news, Artemis has signed Joey McIntyre to an exclusive worldwide deal. The album “8:09” is due April 27.
