By Thomas ClaburnInformationWeek
Amazon, Sony BMG, and EMI Music said that they will make hundreds of out-of-print albums available on Amazon's Web site through CreateSpace's Disc on Demand service.
Some of the titles that have been restored to availability include "Hatari Soundtrack" by Henry Mancini, "Earthquake Weather" by Joe Strummer, "Motorcade of Generosity" by Cake, "Telepathy" by Bill Stewart, "Foreign Intrigue" by Tony Williams, and "Carryin' On" by Grant Green.
A few of the recordings being made available through Disc on Demand are new releases rather than reissues, such as the upcoming title in KCRW's "Sounds Eclectic" series.
The arrival of brand-name, major-label content should enhance the credibility of CreateSpace's media on-demand service, which has yet to shake of the stigma associated with self-publishing. CreateSpace was born last August. It used to be called CustomFlix, which Amazon acquired in July 2005.
Peter Faricy, VP of music and movies at Amazon, said the new service will give Amazon customers access to titles they haven't had access to or have only been available used through Amazon Marketplace partners.
Faricy said that Amazon had a number of ways to measure consumer interest in out-of-print recordings, including searches, visits to product detail pages, and orders placed with Amazon Marketplace partners. That data, he said, helped Amazon understand what its customers wanted.
Faircy said Amazon had not heard complaints from its partners about what could be viewed as a competitive move. He characterized CreateSpace's Disc on Demand as a service that expands the choices available to Amazon's customers.
Amazon's decision to move into the business of selling services to content creators, in addition to its traditional business of selling content creator's products, has prompted book publishers using competing print-on-demand services to worry that their goods will be discriminated against. In response such worries, the Amazon Book Team published an open letter in March to explain why it wants to be in the print on-demand business.
"Simply put, we can provide a better, more timely customer experience if the [Print On-Demand] titles are printed inside our own fulfillment centers," said Amazon. "In addition, printing these titles in our own fulfillment centers saves transportation costs and transportation fuel."
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