Excuse the commercial-sounding post - in truth, this is a press release
from Passionato, and I didn't bother to rewrite it. The only compensation
I received was the package of 10 free downloads, which every new member
receives...:)
Passionato debuts world's largest collection of high-quality
DRM-free classical music downloads
http://www.passionato.com/
Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 09:10 AM EDT
Passionato launches today, giving classical music lovers
the opportunity to browse, sample and download single tracks,
works or albums from its catalogue of classical music
recordings. Tracks are available from its store in superior
audio quality (320kbps MP3 or lossless FLAC). All of the
music is DRM-free, which allows music purchased on Passionato
to be transferred to any computer or portable audio player
- including Apple's market-dominating iPod - and burned to
CD without any restrictions.
Post-launch Passionato will continue to sign-up more
independent labels, and to add new releases from the key
major and independent labels on a weekly basis.
Passionato is free to join, with no subscription and with
highly competitive, flexible pricing according to whether
users download tracks, works or albums. Users will be able
to download free beta software - the Player - which allows
them to organise all the music they download alongside any
music they import (rip) from their classical CD collections.
Passionato's extensive recording information (metadata)
means the Player can identify any classical CD a user imports
by matching it with Passionato's own database, providing
instant information on, for example, composer, date of
recording, record label, recording location, recording
producer, recording engineer and period.
Passionato's Store allows users to listen to samples of up
to 60 seconds of every track in its catalogue, and to browse
by composer (subdivided by period, e.g. Baroque, Renaissance
or Romantic, or by nationality), by artist (subdivided by
voice, e.g. mezzo-soprano or baritone, or by nationality)
and by record label.
In this way, users can roam Passionato's store freely,
discovering new recordings without having to pay a penny.
The Passionato Store also features the Passionato team's
own expert recommendations on highly rated works, thousands
of reviews from national media and specialist music
publications, and a regularly updated chart. Users can rate
works using the Player, an easy method of sorting favourite
pieces.
Passionato also encourages musical debate amongst classical
music lovers within its dedicated Community section. The
forums provide a place for quick-fire debate on a wide range
of topics.
In the spirit of discovering and sharing classical music,
Passionato includes a number of Web 2.0 features. Users can
post links to their favourite classical albums on 34 of the
most popular online social networks, including Facebook and
MySpace, directing friends to the Passionato Store where
they can hear free audio samples. Users can also send
personal recommendations/links to their friends directly
via email via the 'Send to a Friend' function, and bookmark
their favourites using sites such as Del.icio.u.s.
To coincide with Passionato's launch, everyone who registers
at passionato.com can claim 10 free pre-selected tracks,
one of which is which is an entire 30-minute work (current
pre-selected work is Saint- Saens' Symphony No.3).
James Glicker, Founder and CEO of Passionato, carried out
the preliminary research for Passionato while living in the
US after he finished a two-year term as President of the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. James's twenty years in the
music industry include positions as Head of Worldwide
Marketing at BMG Classics, Managing Director of BMG Australia
and President of MusicNow.
"I'm an avid consumer of classical music myself and, having
worked in the industry for twenty years, I am aware of how
technology and the internet are becoming increasingly a
part of how people access, consume and share knowledge about
classical music. Passionato is delighted to have the
cooperation of the largest majors and we will over the next
six months and beyond be signing up even more labels - all
with the ultimate goal of presenting people who love classical
music with an easy and cost effective way of organising and
expanding their music collections," Glicker said in the
press release
The UK recorded music industry association, the BPI, adds:
"Digital distribution already offers great choice as to how
music fans can access and enjoy music online, and its
potential is even greater. We expect the new Passionato
service will greatly enhance the digital music offering for
classical music aficionados and we warmly welcome innovation
of this type in music retail."
Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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