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With Napsterhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10793/">Napster; as the little red devil with a pitchfork prodding them on, the third-largest record company in the world, EMIhttp://www.emigroup.com">EMI;, making good on its earlier">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10745/">earlier announcement, last week became the first major label to begin releasing music online. In a move the company hopes will silence the critics who say that Napster has become successful because the big labels have provided no Web-based alternatives, EMI put over 100 albums and 40 singles online "through all the normal retail websites."

The age of digital music downloads has begun in earnest. On July 20, EMI">http://www.emigroup.com/">EMI Recorded Music announced that it has signed a deal with Digital">http://www.digitalon-demand.com/">Digital On-Demand and its subsidiary, RedDotNet Inc., to make the EMI catalog available for downloading to kiosks in music stores. The kiosks will be equipped with CD "burners" where customers can copy EMI recordings not in stock in the stores. They will also be able to print out the original cover art and liner notes. Discs can be copied at high speed in 5 to 15 minutes using RedDotNet's technology, the announcement noted.

The world's third largest music company has thrown its massive weight behind Internet audio. On June 10, EMI Recorded Music, a division of EMI">http://www.emigroup.com/">EMI Group Plc, announced a five-year licensing agreement with Reston, Virginia-based Musicmaker.comhttp://www.musicmaker.com/">Musicmaker.com;, a major custom CD compilation service and digital download site. EMI has not simply made its enormous catalog available to the service---it has also bought into Musicmaker.com with a 50% equity stake.

Digital downloading is all the rage with the major record labels. EMI">http://www.emimusic.ca/">EMI Recorded Music, a unit of EMI">http://www.emigroup.com/">EMI Group PLC, announced May 10 that it will make some of its massive catalog available as digital downloads beginning this summer. More than 100 albums and 40 singles will be offered on a trial basis, according to a company press release dated May 10. EMI's musical spectrum covers every genre, including pop, rock, jazz, classical, Latin, Christian, country, rap/urban, and dance—a roster of approximately 1500 artists. Labels under the EMI umbrella include Capitol, Angel, Blue Note, EMI, Priority, and Virgin.

The Super Audio CD has won the endorsement of two more major record labels, according to press releases issued the last week of August. The announcements followed by only a few days one by Universal">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11123/">Universal Music Group that it would begin producing the high-resolution recordings for mass distribution.

EMI">http://www.emigroup.com">EMI Group PLC has gotten serious about surviving in a depressed market. In the wake of a disastrous multimillion-dollar payouthttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11265/">payout; to pop singer Mariah Carey, the UK music label has announced sweeping cutbacks in its workforce—including many American executives—and in its roster of artists.

Last year wasn't kind to UK entertainment conglomerate EMI">http://www.emigroup.com">EMI Group PLC. On February 5, the company issued its second profit warning since September, blaming a slow market for recorded music. EMI is now predicting that pretax profits for the year ending March 31 will total $213.4 million (245.1 million euros, or £150 million), far below analysts' predictions. The news caused an immediate 6.4% drop in the price of EMI shares on the London market.