Independent record labels Beggars Group, Merge and Domino have all pulled their catalogs from digital music provider eMusic, citing the websites push to get major labels onboard as content contributors as a major factor for their departures.
eMusic announced that content belonging to Domino, Merge, and Beggars Group (which consists of the labels Rough Trade, 4AD, XL and Matador) would be pulled via an announcement on the site’s forum. The content from the aforementioned labels was pulled off of eMusic yesterday.
The eMusic release reveals that splits between the site and the various labels that provide content to it are not totally uncommon, with labels coming and going over time. They also added that they hope to do business with all labels involved in the future.
Beggars Group says that eMusic “changed the terms on which they deal with labels in certain ways” and as a result lost it’s position as the online home of independent music distribution.
Merge’s statement on the issue echoes the sentiments in the Beggar’s Group announcement, saying that eMusic “has created a situation where it would be harmful to the interests of Merge and [their] artists to continue [their] partnership [with eMusic] at this time.”
eMusic hosts content from Warner and Sony currently, with plans to add Universal’s catalog to their selection in the very near future.
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