Microsoft has announced a new programme in the US which will see the computer firm's download platform MSN Music promoting undiscovered independent musicians.
The programme will be run through a partnership with GarageBand.com, a website founded in 1999 by, among others, Talking Heads' Jerry Harrison, which exists to discover and champion new indie music.
The MSN Music programme will make available free downloads from, and internet radio streams featuring, the artists selected by GarageBand.com. The new feature is part of Microsoft's attempts to distinguish their download platform from Apple et al in the increasingly competitive digital music sector.