SpiralFrog has reached an agreement with EMI Music Publishing, one of the largest music publishers in the world, to use its songs and lyrics for a music download service scheduled to roll out in a beta version by November. SpiralFrog, which announced its first deal with Universal Music Group last week, plans to offer free song downloads, with the service funded through advertising.
"This is just the start of signing major labels and music publishers to offer their catalogs to the users of SpiralFrog," said Neville Hobson, SpiralFrog spokesman. SpiralFrog is one of several technology companies and music publishers forging alliances in an effort to suppress illegal music downloading, blamed by record labels for falling sales. SpiralFrog said their service will be a high-quality alternative to file-sharing sites that are "characterized by poor-quality music, missing song details, and spyware."