THE ORCHARD PARTNER ON FRENCH OPEN FORMAT SERVICE
Is it me, or are independent digital distribution company The Orchard launching new ventures every other day at the moment? Anyway, The Orchard has announced it is in partnership with French digital music store Starzik who yesterday launched a new 'open formats' download service - offering tracks in all major digital audio formats, including MP3, without any DRM. In addition to music from all the indie labels represented globally by The Orchard, Starzik will also stock digital music from numerous French independents.
Launching the service, Starzik boss Jerome Giachino told CMU: "Technology has to provide a way to simplify access to music and then help consumers discover new music. That was the principle on which we founded Starzik, and now that we are entering a new phase with the launch of our open-formats service, our distribution agreement with The Orchard gives us access to a vast new catalogue of independent music. This will greatly enhance our service as we bring it to a wider audience."