TORONTO – Bell Canada announced late Wednesday it has purchased a majority interest in Canadian-owned music download service Puretracks
"By investing in Puretracks, Bell is better positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for online digital entertainment among Canadian consumers," said Charlotte Burke, senior vice-president, Bell Canada consumer Internet services, in a release.
The financial size of the investment in Puretracks, which is part-owned by Standard Broadcasting and boasts a million song titles in its library, was not released.
"With over two million Sympatico customers and more than 17 million unique visitors to Sympatico.MSN.ca every month Bell leads the way in Canadian online entertainment," says the release.
The company’s expanding portfolio of content includes kidsmania, GAMESMANIA, Live @ The Orange Lounge and Les Acoustiques MusiMax.
"Bell Canada offers Puretracks a huge marketing and distribution network with direct access to a large customer base," said Alistair Mitchell, president and CEO, Puretracks. "The partnership combines Bell’s reach with Puretracks’ close ties to the Canadian music scene including both independent and major labels."
