HMV Adopts Liquid Audio for In-Store Digital Music Kiosks

Music, video and computer game retailer HMV has selected Liquid Audio to supply the technology for U-Mix, its new in-store shopping service that will enable customers to preview selected songs and create custom compilation CDs from digital music kiosks. The U-Mix kiosk will pilot at HMV's Oxford Circus flagship store in London.

The launch of U-Mix is the latest initiative in a developing global relationship between HMV and Liquid Audio. In June it was announced that users of HMV.com ( www.hmv.com) would be able to securely purchase and download music from a database of more than 85,000 digital tracks, drawn from 8,500 major artists, and covering all genres of music.

HMV Oxford Circus customers will initially gain access to over 2,200 Liquid Audio tracks, although this will increase as further digitized content is made available. The tracks on offer are primarily drawn from back catalog repertoire by less chart-orientated artists and will cost 1.50 pounds sterling each (customers will be restricted to a minimum of 5 tracks and a maximum of 10 on each CD that they "burn").

HMV's primary objective in launching the Liquid Audio trial -- which will run over a six-month period, but may be extended -- is to gain a realistic evaluation both of consumer demand for this market and of the technology and hardware that works best in a record store environment, with the long-term aim of evolving a digital download system that has the potential to be rolled out to all its stores.