Bertelsmann weds CDNow, music clubs

BeMusic to reach 15 mil customers

BERLIN -- German media giant Bertelsmann is developing BeMusic, bringing together the world's largest online CD retailer and its largest music club into a division worth $1 billion in revenues and commanding 15 million customers.

The link between online music store CDNow and music clubs division BMG Direct follows last week's announcement that Bertelsmann and AOL Time Warner had teamed with RealNetworks to launch MusicNet, which licenses music and subscription technology to other online music services.

The new technology will allow online companies to provide downloads and stream music over the Internet for a subscription fee.

Move, which creates further synergies between Bertelsmann divisions, is a step toward realizing the company's vision of digital music distribution.