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BMG

continues it’s acquisition of Internet music properties.

As the race to own digital distribution on the net races

along (AOL/Timewarner, Universal/Getmusic.com and Mp3.com)

BMG entered the digital music scene early last year when

the German giant announced that it would purchase the ailing

music website, CDnow. After selling a stake in Getmusic.com

that it held jointly with Universal Records, the company

set it’s sights on the embattled song swapping service,

Napster. Napster, which is close to settling lawsuits from

3 major labels as well as the RIAA and various Indies, sold

an undisclosed amount of the company to BMG late last year.

Now add to the

companies roster of digital companies myplay.com, which

BMG will shell out $30 million to own. Myplay was launched

in 1999, and allows users to store their digital music files.

The company recently laid of 31 employees. The remaining

employees will work for a new company BMG is creating called

Bemusic, which will attempt to consolidate the companies

Internet holdings.

Everything isn’t

great for BMG, whose chairman recently proclaimed the company

would make no money this year. The label lost its Canadian

distribution deal with Zomba Group’s Jive Records – and

the U.S. could be next.

That means the

German music giant will now lose the right to distribute

such superstars as the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and Britney

Spears in Canada. Industry speculators are betting that

Zomba Chairman Clive Calder will sign a new Canadian distribution

deal with the EMI Group, which already handles Jive releases

in Latin America and part of Europe.