Music Organizations and Retailers Launch Digital Music Guide

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and NARM, along with its digital initiative digitalmusic.org, have launched the “Why Music Matters” website in the US in hopes of educating fans on available digital music services to fit their music needs.

Visitors to whymusicmatters.com can browse through a grid of companies offering a variety of different music services, including mp3 downloads, streaming sites, mobile music, digital radio, retail and more. The site also includes videos about the value of music featuring Jay-Z, Louis Armstrong, Kate Bush, and more.

“The music community has transformed how it does business, and the launch of the Why Music Matters site is another great milestone in that evolution,” said RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman.

Whymusicmatters.com is based on a similar website created by the British Phonographic Industry in the United Kingdom in 2010, which was then expanded to Australia and New Zealand. The services listed on the website all have an agreement with at least one of the three major record companies and offers a significant catalog of music, or have signed up for the statutory license intended for online radio services.