If Coca-Cola expects to attract new fans by offering music albums for as little as £6.40 then Fatboy Slim can surely build an empire by being the next big name to jump on the downloading bandwagon.
The celebrated DJ has become the latest big name to throw his hat into the increasingly crowded online download ring, backing the launch of a new website aimed at DJs and dance music fans.
Norman Cook, who is also known as Fatboy Slim and married to radio presenter Zoe Ball, and former Underworld member Darren Emerson have become the first record label owners to license their music to new download site Trax2Burn.com through their Southern Fried and Underwater imprints.
"It's really a case of 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' so now Southern Fried tracks are available to everyone online," said Cook.
Trax2Burn hopes to differentiate itself from the scores of download sites likely to launch during 2004 by aiming itself squarely at DJs and offering exclusive tracks and mixes.
It claims many DJs are increasingly using CDs rather than vinyl and that using the service they can access the latest tracks and mixes from anywhere in the world, burn them to CD and immediately play them in bars and clubs.
Founder Amy Thompson said the site was aimed at big name DJs and amateur dance music enthusiasts alike.
"We know it's out there for free but now you have a choice, and we hope the extra value that's available makes it worthwhile," she said, adding there were plans to add music news, ringtones and weekly download charts to the site.
For DJs the site will act as a promotional service, allowing labels to promote their latest tracks without sending vinyl though the post while fans will also be offered unreleased and exclusive tracks.
"For me, as a DJ, I'm always on the move from country to country and record bags always get lost. CDs are easier to carry about and if my bags do get lost I can always download any tracks that I really wanted to play out," said Emerson, who left Underworld last year after a decade with the dance act best known for Born Slippy.
Trax2Burn will go head to head with bigger competitors in the increasingly crowded online download market as record companies seek to fight back against the tide of online piracy facilitated by peer to peer file sharing sites such as Kazaa and Grokster.
Apple's iTunes and Napster 2.0, a reborn legitimate version of the original illegal download site, are both expected to launch in the UK before Easter after proving a hit with consumers in the US.
Meanwhile, several big names including Microsoft, Freeserve, HMV and Coca-Cola have signed up with Peter Gabriel's OD2 to provide their own legal download services.
MyCokeMusic.com, the download site launched yesterday by the soft drinks giant, got off to an inauspicious start when technical gremlins meant customers were unable to access it.
Trax2Burn is the latest in a number of sites expected to target niche user groups rather than the catch-all approach of services due to launch from the likes of Sony, AOL, Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
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