Following speculation last week that a deal was in the pipeline, the Association of Independent Music yesterday confirmed that they had reached an agreement with iTunes and that some of their members had already signed contracts that will enable their rosters to be sold via the download platform.
iTunes had to launch their European service last month without the independent labels on board, of course, after the indie sector refused to accept the terms they were being offered by Apple. Despite griping on both sides, negotiations continued and earlier this week a workable framework was agreed. The details of that framework are confidential, although word is the independents deal is now more in line with the deal offered to the major labels.
Announcing that a deal had been reached, AIM boss Alison Wenham, told reporters: "Following renewed discussions, our members have now been able to agree terms for the licensing of their repertoire to iTunes European service. The industry's future is wedded to the success of iTunes and similar services and it's great news for fans and industry alike that music from some of Europe's leading acts will soon be available on this service."
Beggars Banquet's Martin Mills, who sits on the boards of AIM and pan-European indie body IMPALA, added: "I am delighted that we are now able to be part of this great service. In the USA iTunes represents up to 5% of certain of our album sales already, and key tracks are selling in quantities that simply were inconceivable before. We look forward to participating in the rapid growth of this market, both with iTunes and with other services with whom we're already in business or will be launching shortly".
The Beggars Group and the Sanctuary Records Group are both known to have already inked contracts with iTunes based on the AIM agreement.