BUSINESS WIRE : Indie Label Magnatune.com Learns From Radio; Launches 45 Rotation-Based Podcasts

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 2006--Next generation record label Magnatune today announced it has launched 45 new podcasts in a wide array of musical genres. The talk-free podcasts are updated weekly from the growing Magnatune catalog of over 200 independent recording artists, and each features a full hour of uninterrupted music.

"As a record label that's leveraging the Internet to change the whole music industry for the better, we felt it was important to use the medium of podcasting to its fullest potential," explains Magnatune founder and CEO John Buckman.

Buckman himself developed the algorithm against which the podcasts are generated automatically each week. The Magnatune podcasts imitate the radio "rotation" model, featuring new songs more, and making "hits" by playing the strongest tracks more frequently. Several podcasts have already seen several thousand user downloads since the launch, including the Bach podcast with 30,000 downloads in just over a week.

In addition to a wide array of podcasts in different genres such as classical, ambient, jazz, rock, pop, world, and electronica, Magnatune has also made available several podcasts by mood, including "Wake-Up" and "Relaxing" podcasts, as well as programming in specific musical niches such as an all-Mozart podcast, and an all-sitar podcast.

New episodes of all 45 podcasts appear each week and are available from the Magnatune Web site as well as iTunes.

In addition to its own podcasts, Magnatune makes its catalog available for free to other podcasters -- a policy that differs dramatically from that of many other record labels and which has contributed to Magnatune's rapidly growing popularity online.

About Magnatune

Founded in 2003, Magnatune (http://magnatune.com) is an independent, online record label that sells and licenses music by over 200 independent recording artists in every genre. Magnatune supports "fair-trade music" by sharing equally all revenue with recording artists. All music can be previewed in full, free of charge before purchasing.