LONDON — Hundreds of independent record companies in Britain and Europe signed a licensing agreement with Napster on Tuesday that will immediately make thousands of tracks available to computer-users worldwide.
Britain’s Association of Independent Music and the Independent Music Companies Association signed the deal with the Redwood City, Calif.-based Napster on behalf of Europe’s independent record labels.
Napster, the former music industry bad boy, has been moving toward legitimacy after a court ruling that it remove protected works from its song-swapping service.
This latest deal — Napster’s first direct, multi-label agreement — will help boost the company’s file of songs when its online music subscription service launches this summer.
The deal covers tracks from artists including Moby, whose album, “Play,” was Britain’s best-selling album of 2000, Tom Jones, Badly Drawn Boy, Mogwai, The Avalanches, Moloko, Slipknot, Tricky, Miossec, Saint Germain and Belle & Sebastian.
Besides more than 150 British independent record companies, labels belonging to the national trade associations from France, Germany and Sweden are also part of the deal.
Alison Wenham said, “This is nothing short of a global revolution for musicians and music lovers,” said Alison Wenham, chief executive director of the Association of Independent Music, a nonprofit making organization representing independent record companies throughout Britain.
