I know this Story is an old one though I have to write these ahead of time:

ubermiester writes “ArsTechnica reports that AT&T has inked a deal with eMusic, a direct competitor to Apple’s iTunes music store. eMusic specializes in independent artists and offers DRM-free content for direct download. For a monthly fee (the number of tracks one can download per month depends on the package) the site’s catalog will be available to AT&T customers using Samsung and Nokia handsets, but not the iPhone.”

Indie music, meet telco behemoth: eMusic partners with AT&T

By Nate Anderson | Published: July 31, 2007 – 09:13AM CT

eMusic, which sells DRM-free MP3s, has just inked a deal with AT&T to make music available for purchase directly from AT&T handsets. Users can also download another copy from a home computer an no extra charge.

eMusic is the second-largest music download store after iTunes. It currently boasts more than 300,000 subscribers and offers more than 2 million tracks from independent artists (a category that includes people like Paul McCartney and the Arcade Fire), and the company hopes to turn its lack of huge radio hits into a positive by reaching out to a different audience.

eMusic CEO David Pakman said that the new deal will “expand the audience for mobile music beyond the youth market by offering an alternative to the mainstream pop hits that have so far dominated over-the-air music.”

eMusic is a subscription service: pay a set monthly fee and download a set number of songs each month. The new service will keep that model, but the prices are going up. Way up. The new deal will cost $7.49 a month for access to five songs, and browsing and downloading can both take place directly on the phone.

In a move away from the traditional handset lock-in, eMusic will also make an MP3 available to download from the user’s home computer, so songs purchased on a handset are no longer stuck there. AT&T previously offered a way to transfer songs from a computer to its phones, so it’s unclear why many people would prefer the new (and more expensive) method. Accessing eMusic directly from a computer costs only $10 a month for 30 downloads, but if you’re on the go and need an indie music fix, this might be your answer.

The new service is available for both Samsung and Nokia handsets. Sorry, iPhone users.

That is all for today.

Ryan Orser