Pressplay, Zomba Ink Licensing Deal

Pressplay has inked a non-exclusive content-licensing deal with Zomba Recording Corp. The pact, which will be announced today, gives the subscription service access to music from Jive--home to the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and 'N Sync--and Zomba's other labels, which include Silvertone and Verity.

Pressplay will feature 3,000 songs from Zomba--all of which will not initially be eligible for transfer to blank CDs. Pressplay CEO Andy Schuon says his company is in negotiations with the label about making the tracks available for burning.

The Zomba pact marks the 10th independent-label content partner for Pressplay, which announced a content deal with TVT last week (Bulletin, Jan. 29). Schuon says his company was pushing especially hard for a deal with Zomba because "a lot of people have been searching the Pressplay service for Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and 'N Sync."

Ivan Gavin, executive VP of finance and commercial operations for Zomba, says in a statement that the Pressplay deal "represents another step in Zomba's evolution as a committed player" in the digital music field.

The deal also signals more overlap between the competing Pressplay and MusicNet factions. Zomba is the second MusicNet content partner/investor to cut a deal with Pressplay. The label made an unspecified cash investment in MusicNet when it signed a content-licensing deal with that service last July; the agreement was said to include a brief exclusivity clause (Bulletin, July 25, 2001). EMI, a founding member of the MusicNet joint venture, signed a content deal with Pressplay in October (Bulletin, Oct. 3, 2001).