Sony and eMusic Join Forces

Apple is a giant when it comes to selling music: iTunes accounts for 70-80 percent of all digital music sales, everywhere. The prospect of any one company taking on Steve Jobs' empire is basically the equivalent of David taking on a thermonuclear-armed Goliath. Rather than go it alone, eMusic and Sony have just announced that the former will be selling the latter's back catalogue (everything two years and older) beginning fall of this year.

eMusic touts its "corner music store" platform as a "deeper, more immersive alternative" to "mass market digital stores" (read: iTunes) because of its in-depth editorial focus on artists, discographies and themed collections, and a pricing plan that rewards customers who buy music recommended to them. It's a compelling business model, but one that hasn't quite caught on yet thanks to Apple's near-monopolistic market share.

It's difficult to speculate how this will play out, even in the short term. Apple is unlikely to be dislodged from its king-of-the-hill position any time soon, but Sony joining with another major digital music distributor is still a blow, even if its not a game-changer. A few more partnerships like this, and eMusic's curatorial approach may even catch on.