CLEVELAND, OH (By
Amber Webb/ OverDrive) -
Music lovers will soon be able to download and fill their MP3 players with chart-topping tunes - using their library cards. Depending upon the territory within which the OverDrive partner library lies, titles from artists including Barenaked Ladies,
Sarah McLachlan and
Delerium will be available to lend from their websites as a result of an agreement between OverDrive, a digital media provider for libraries, and Nettwerk
Music Group.
More than 5,000 libraries in OverDrive's network now provide download audio books, eBooks, music, and video that library patrons can browse on the Internet, check out, and download to portable devices. Titles are automatically returned when the lending period is over, eliminating overdue fines.
"We are responding to our library partners' requests for an expanded catalog of popular digital media - and music in particular," said Erica Lazzaro, Senior Content Acquisition and Licensing Counsel at OverDrive. "Our relationship with Nettwerk was a natural fit; with Nettwerk's focus on exploring new avenues for distribution - libraries represent a real market opportunity."
A Vancouver, B.C.-based record label, Nettwerk is known for its creative ways of promoting and distributing music. They are credited for popularizing multiple artists using grassroots movements.
"We are excited that libraries will soon be lending Barenaked Ladies tunes to music fans around the world," said Steven Page, lead singer of Barenaked Ladies. "This is a market we haven't tapped yet, and it's a great opportunity to expand the reach of our music."
Nettwerk works to make music more freely available to fans by leaving the traditional record sales model to find new ways to profit from music (concerts, ring tones, etc.) Libraries are one of the many new places Nettwerk is offering their music.
"The vision of Nettwerk strongly parallels that of libraries," said Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk. "We both work to make entertainment and information broadly available to the public."
The agreement will initially add about 130 Nettwerk albums to the more than 100,000 audio book, eBook, music and video titles OverDrive offers, including over 5,000 music titles. OverDrive will demonstrate how libraries can lend Nettwerk titles via download to their patrons at Booth #617 at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. June 23 - 26, 2007. OverDrive download music is available for PCs and portable MP3 players that support Microsoft Windows Media (.wma). To see if your library is a member of OverDrive's network, and to find titles of eBooks, audio books, music, and videos available from public libraries, go to www.overdrive.com/search.
About OverDrive, Inc.
OverDrive is a leader in providing world-class infrastructure for downloading premium digital content. We deliver secure management, protection and download services for hundreds of publishers and institutions (rights holders) and thousands of libraries, retailers and distributors serving millions of end users. With a global catalog of premium digital titles - including current best sellers - of eBooks, audio books, music, video and (coming soon) games & interactive software presentable in a single platform, OverDrive offers the industry's best selection as well as the option to manage, protect and download proprietary content. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. www.OverDrive.com
About Nettwerk Music Group
Nettwerk Music Group is Canada's leading privately owned record label and artist management company, responsible for managing some of North America's biggest artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies and many others. Nettwerk has several offices located around the world including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Nashville and London; with the main office in Vancouver, B.C.
Housed within the multifaceted company's record label are a host of fantastic artists, spanning genres from Bluegrass to electronic, from Latin alternative to pop singer-songwriter, including: Old Crow Medicine Show (as seen on CMT and heard on A Prairie Home Companion), The Be Good Tanyas, Delerium (featuring Sarah McLachlan), Kinky (Ciudad's LA Latin Artist of the Year), Neil Finn and The Finn Brothers (of Crowded House fame), Chantal Kreviazuk (songwriter for Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne and more) and many others.
