EMI And SNOCAP Enable Sale Of DRM Free Tracks Across Viral Platforms

EMI has reached an agreement with SNOCAP to enable purchase of DRM-free higher-quality MP3s by EMI artists through artist websites, social networking pages and fan blogs.   EMI will also place SNOCAP MyStores – digital storefronts that work on nearly any website – on the web pages of hundreds of its
artist sites.

Beginning this week, music from a broad range of EMI Music artists will be available via MyStores for $1.30 per track including 30 Seconds to Mars, The Almost, Ryland Angel, The Bird and The Bee, KORN (one example of how EMI is using MyStore can be found here if you page down to the left), Joe Lovano, Dean Martin, MIMs, Relient K, Saosin, TobyMac and Yellowcard with additional artists being added in coming weeks.  EMI’s Blue Note Records has also placed a store on its website
with tracks from both catalog and current artists.

Using SNOCAP MyStores’ “Spread the word” feature, fans, music bloggers and other third party sites will also have the ability to place SNOCAP MyStores from their favorite artists on their own websites.

EMI is smart to harness the viral nature of the web and to enable music purchases wherever the potential customer may be spending time online. But the higher price, which may enable EMI to keep a larger share of each transaction than they get on iTunes, will be a deterrant for many consumers almost encouraging them to purchase or even "steal" the track elsewhere.  And other solutions are also available for labels and artists wanting to harness viral exposure and purchase without a higher price including Sonific’s SongSpot widget.

UPDATE: The Hometracked blog has a great comparison chart and reviews of various viral sales widgets and what they