eMusic Signs AT&T Download Deal

eMusic has signed a deal with AT&T and to make its music available for download.

Want to have music on your cell, but hate the mainstream chart sounds? There might be something to tickle your fancy. eMusic has announced a new service withAT&T to let people buy music via their cell phones.   The difference is that eMusic only deals with independent labels, not the majors who have deals withother cell phone companies. This means they can reach people on the musical fringes.   The tracks will work on Samsung and Nokia handsets used by AT&T, and gives users access to most of the 2.7 million tacks sold by eMusic.

It won’t be cheap at $7.49 for five tracks, but the cost is largely because of the expense involved in sending them over a mobile network. However, there is a bonus – buyers will receive a free copy of the song they can download as an MP3 via computer. eMusic already has a deal with AT&T where customers can sideload their phones with tracks via computer.

“We think there are customers that are ready for eMusic, but they haven’t heard of it yet,” said David Pakman, eMusic’s president and chief executive. “We’ve focused on making this easy to use.”

The new AT&T/eMusic deal does not extend to AT&T’s new attention-getting handset, the Apple iPhone.