EMUSIC GETS A BUNDLE FROM HP

Online download vendor EMusic on Friday announced an alliance with Hewlett-Packard, maker of CD-rewritable drives and other hardware.

Under the agreement, HP will purchase a minimum of approximately $3 million of downloadable music and services from EMusic to be bundled with future HP CD-Writer products. Consumers who purchase the goods will have smorgasbord-style access to Emusic content. The agreement covers the next three calendar quarters, between July 1, 2000 and March 31, 2001.

"Digital music has become one of the most valuable, personal and popular forms of content—something that every wired consumer enjoys collecting and listening to," said Gene Hoffman, EMusic.com President and CEO. "We are proud to work with HP in this significant alliance to deliver customizable music content with its well-regarded line of CD-Writers. And for the record, I've always thought music should be free on the Internet."