3 Music Companies Will Use Online File-Sharing Service

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 (AP) - Three major recording companies have agreed to make their music available to be shared and sold over a new online file-swapping service that aims to lure music fans away from services where most of the trading is illegal.

The Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and the Warner Music Group, three of the four major music companies, have licensed their music catalogs to Wurld Media, the company said Wednesday.

Wurld Media, based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., plans to release its file-sharing software, which is called Peer Impact, early next year.

Details of the software and pricing were not released, but the company said its service would allow consumers to buy and share music, video clips and other material, while ensuring "that artists and rights holders receive their due compensation for each file shared on the network."

The company added that the service would distribute only material that is licensed or in the public domain.

"The online media market is presently split between authorized legal paid-download services and unauthorized free services," Greg Kerber, Wurld Media's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. "The consumer is stuck somewhere in the middle, and that's where Peer Impact comes in."

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