Some Online Music Providers Allow Sharing

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES – Free-for-all music sharing online has drawn the ire of the recording industry, but some commercial online music providers and even a few recording artists are opting to allow music fans to share the songs they’ve bought.

The latest to do so is San Diego-based MusicMatch. The company on Tuesday launched a revamped version of its digital music service with a new feature that enables subscribers to send e-mails embedded with Internet links for songs they want to share.

Like Napster (news – web sites) 2.0 and other licensed digital music purveyors who have rolled out similar options, the MusicMatch sharing feature comes with restrictions nowhere to be found in the peer-to-peer file-sharing bazaars accessed through software like Kazaa and eDonkey.

The recording industry has traditionally been skittish about allowing its content to be disseminated by anyone but licensed distributors, but they have clearly warmed up to the concept when assured the music would be shared securely, said Bob Ohlweiler, MusicMatch’s senior vice president of business development.

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