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BRUSSELS -- Universal Music France will release 104 albums of French chanson, the term for the country's particular style of lyric-driven songs, for sale exclusively online.

The move kicks off Heritage, a project that will catalog and archive the company's back catalog, making Gaul's musical history more accessible to the public.

The albums, from the end of the 1940s through the beginning the 1980s, include recordings made for a dozen labels since absorbed by the music giant. Some have never been released on CD.

The 10 artists covered in this first release are Maurice Chevalier, Eddie Constantine, Catherine Sauvage, Pia Colombo, the Compagnons de la Chanson, Francis Lemarque, Marie-Paule Belle, Marcel Amont, Jacques Douai and Ginette Garcin.

Further releases are likely to include work by Fernandel, Zizi Jeanmaire and Francesca Solleville.

The Heritage collection will also get a dedicated website.