Yahoo! plays catch-up as it buys music download service

LONDON - Yahoo! is joining the music-download arena with the $160m acquistion of Musicmatch, which sees it playing catch-up with established competitors such as Apple's iTunes, Coca-Cola's MyCokeMusic and MSN Music.

Yahoo! has completed the purchase signalling its commitment to becoming a major player in digital music, according to chairman and chief executive Terry Semel.

"This combination bolsters our strategy to capture the largest audience of consumers as they make the shift to digital music and supports Yahoo!'s goal to give consumers the greatest choice, control and flexibility in how they interact with their music," Semel said.

The Yahoo! chief executive also hinted that the acquisition would be one of more to come this year.

"This acquisition is one of several product innovations and new initiatives in which Yahoo! will invest to build our music portfolio this year and in the future," he said.

Yahoo! will maintain the Musicmatch brand for the time being, and its assets will extend the dotcom's music reach to 23m. Musicmatch allows users to choose from more than 700,000 song downloads.

Yahoo! already owns Launch, which provides streamed audio and music content online and allows users to create their own bespoke radio stations with LaunchCast.

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