Merlin Inks SNOCAP Deal

The newly founded independent music agency Merlin, WIN’s (Worldwide Independent Network) licensing, distribution and commercial arm, has inked a deal with digital licensing and copyright management service SNOCAP founded by Napster creator Sean Fanning. News Corp owned MySpace, the world's largest social networking site, previously announced a deal to use SNOCAP to offer a digital music service via “Mystore” widget, and with this deal in place, artists belonging to the Merlin label could sell their music on MySpace and other sites with similar deals.
The formation of Merlin, initiated at the Midemnet conference in Cannes, allows the group to act as a global rights licensing agency for independent indie bands and to give them some collective bargaining ability in order to compete with the major labels currently at play in the music space. The MidemNet Forum began on Saturday and included speakers such as the RIAA’s Mitch Bainwol, WIN’s Alison Wenham and RealNetworks’ Rob Glaser.
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The new organization now represents up to 30% of the global music market, giving them a significant share of influence in the market. "Merlin came together to license the individually unlicensable." "It's the virtual fifth major," according to Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills. Music will be sold via SNOCAP in unprotected MP3 format, which may give it an edge over the iTunes purchased music which is playable exclusively on iPods, as well as let them target their main audience directly. The question that remains unanswered is will the indie artists thrive in conjunction with the Merlin label and give the majors (Vivendi's Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI Group and Warner Music Group) a run for their money? Only time will tell.

January 21, 2007; Steve Donaldson