The Orchard, a company which distributes music to web and mobile based operators, yesterday announced a new non-exclusive agreement with publishing major Warner/Chappell which will enable them to expand their offering to the mobile sector. The deal will see a wide range of songs from the Warner/Chappell catalogue made available for use as so called 'ringback' and 'master' ringtones via The Orchard.
Confirming the deal, The Orchard CEO Greg Scholl told reporters: "With a storied catalog that includes compositions from every country in the world, the Warner/Chappell name is synonymous with great music. Our agreement with Warner/Chappell in addition to similar previously announced agreements with major music companies, together with our network of thousands of leading independent labels globally, enables The Orchard to offer our mobile partners an impressive spectrum of music for their customers. For our publishing licensees and label and artist partners, we will continue to expand our network of mobile sales channels".
Jim Rondinelli, Senior VP Of Digital Strategy at Warner/Chappell added: "As the mobile music space develops into a place to find, discover and share music, we are excited that this new agreement will allow more consumers to have the opportunity to enjoy and access our songwriters and songs".
Elsewhere in news from The Orchard, the company has announced it is expanding its London office (in terms of staff, they're not knocking through any walls) with the appointment of former Sony Music new media man Neil Cartwright to a Regional Manager role, of Naja Detrekoy to the post of Product Manager and Veronika Dunn to the job of Label Relations.