Bell Canada is buying a majority stake in Canadian Internet music store Puretracks as the phone company pushes further into the on-line entertainment market.
Bell did not disclose the purchase price. Charlotte Burke, president of Bell's consumer Internet services, also declined to say how much of a stake Bell holds in Puretracks.
Consumers are increasingly willing to buy entertainment content such as music, ring tones and games through the Internet or cellphones. That presents new revenue opportunities for communications providers as they expand the range of content for sale over their services. Phone companies such as Bell need to find other revenue sources as competition eats into their traditional phone business.
“By investing in Puretracks, Bell is better positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for on-line digital entertainment among Canadian consumers,” Ms. Burke said Wednesday in a statement.
Puretracks, which launched in 2003, operates its own store as well as supplying digital music services to Internet service providers such as Bell and Telus Corp. Its library has more than one million music titles, including current top sellers such as Madonna's Hung Up and Pump It from the Black Eyed Peas.
While on-line music stores such as Puretracks face tough competition from Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes music store, which has sold more than one billion song downloads worldwide, Ms. Burke says there is enough room for several players.
“This whole market in Canada has so much upside that really the way we view it that with the new mobile devices and everything that is coming out, that the market itself is going to expand and it's going to be good to have a Canadian player, particularly for the independent artists,” Ms. Burke said Wednesday in a phone interview.
“We believe there's a market here for certainly more than one player,” she added.
Increasing the customer base for Puretracks' songs is a top priority, according to Ms. Burke. Bell plans to use its extensive marketing and distribution networks for that purpose. Moreover, it plans to integrate Puretracks further into MSN services, such as instant messaging and e-mail, she added.
The remaining minority shareholders in Puretracks include content providers such as Sony Corp., Standard Broadcasting Corp., EMI, and Universal Music Group.
