Online digital music reseller eMusic, which says it’s the second-largest digital music service after iTunes, announced Wednesday that its label roster has hit 20,000. eMusic features more than 2.7 million tracks, specifically from independent labels and artists.
The company has recently signed agreements with new independent record labels and distributors including Peacefrog, Echo Label, Boompa, Giantslayer, Labrador, Blanco y Negro Music, Elefant, Saavn, Pinnacle Entertainment, Southern Music Distribution and Believe Digital.
eMusic also announced that it has renewed agreements with Beggars Group (which includes 4AD, XL and Rough Trade), Matador Records, Concord Music Group (which includes Fantasy and Prestige jazz catalogues) and ATO Records.
eMusic sells music in MP3 format, which lacks any sort of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. Unlike Apple’s iTunes Store, they don’t sell music “a la carte” by the track; instead, they use a subscription model that enables users to download a fixed number of songs per month depending on how much they pay.