Snocap, the digital media company founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, yesterday (Nov. 13) said it reached a deal with Warner Music Group Corp. authorizing distribution of Warner’s music across Snocap-enabled retail services.
The deal means Snocap has now allied itself with all four of the world’s largest record companies. The company had already established relationships with Sony BMG, Vivendi Universal’s Universal Music and EMI Group Plc. In September, the company also signed deals with various independent labels.
Snocap launched in December. By using fingerprinting technology to identify and track music, the company said it hopes to give consumers authorized options on par with file-sharing services, and turn the threat of still popular peer-to-peer services into an opportunity for music companies and artists.
After registering music and copyright information in Snocap’s database, labels and artists can manage online distribution through Snocap’s copyright management system, which lets them set rules for each track on a global basis.
Fanning started Napster, which turned the music industry upside down by letting users copy music from each other’s hard drives for free. He serves as Snocap’s chief strategy officer.
— Reuters
