Onkyo has signed up Warner Music Japan for its e-Onkyo music download service, available in Japan and with ambitions to expand worldwide.
From this weekend, 500 tracks from the label's foreign artists – the likes of Yes, Steely Dan, Talking Heads and Miles Davis – are available in either 24-bit/96kHz or 24-bit/192kHz resolution, with that number expected to rise to 2000 tracks during August.
The tracks will be available free from DRM copy-management, allowing them to be transferred to mobile phones, tablets and the like after download. Prices are around ¥2500 (£20) per album, or about the same price as a conventional CD in Japan.
As we reported a couple of months ago, Onkyo is hopeful that the e-Onkyo service will be expanded outside Japan, and will be able to offer downloads in formats including 24/96, 24/192, DSD and Dolby True HD to a variety of markets.
For Japanese labels, such moves come ahead of a toughening-up of copyright laws, which will fine Japanese consumers downloading pirated content. It's thought that the new regulations will reduce piracy, thus enabling them to relax copy-protection on content available for download.
