EMusic, AT&T To Sell Music From Independent Labels Via Mobile Phones

I don't know how that fits into AT&T's iTunes-toting iPhone deal, but it does make sense for the mobile carrier to expand its musical repertoire.

Today's New York Times is reporting that AT&T will team with EMusic (the nation's second-largest online music seller - you know the largest) to enable subscribers to purchase from a selection of over 2.7 million songs from independent labels through their mobile phones over the air.

Sprint and Verizon have long enabled their subscribers to do this. What's different about this offering is its emphasis not on mainstream labels, but independent labels which include music from Paul McCartney's new album to the most obscure bands around. The service will cost about $8 for five songs.

“EMusic isn’t pushing top 40 on you when you get to the front page,” Allison Robertson, guitarist for the Donnas, a rock band with its own label, Purple Feather, tells the Times. “You find stuff that you can’t find on the iTunes top 100.”

Alas, the service doesn't work on the iPhone.

For the Times piece, click here.

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