To better position itself in a booming sector, Loudeye ,
which makes software to power online music stores for MTV and others, said
it has raised $25.2 million in a private placement of its stock.
A spokeswoman for the Seattle company was not immediately available for
comment. In a statement, Loudeye said net proceeds will be used for “working
capital and any other general corporate purposes.”
The financing comes shortly after Loudeye signed a multi-year deal with MTV.
The network will launch two new online music stores powered by Loudeye’s
OD2 services.
Loudeye currently powers MTV digital music stores in the United Kingdom,
France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Through the new agreement, MTV
will launch new music stores in Spain and Italy.
The sites will be custom-branded online music stores that will feature
access to legal music downloads. The stores will also contain localized
content specific to each country.
Loudeye’s technology, which provides a complete outsourced media framework
for music retailers, provides features that include the sale of
subscription-based downloads and branded players to provide both live and
on-demand audio and video content to end users.
It also offers digital rights management (DRM); usage reporting and
analytics; digital music license clearance and royalties; streaming music
samples and cover art; music meta data and a la carte or subscription-based
ring-tone downloads.