IMVS ‘unfazed’ by Yahoo! music deal with CDnow
US-based online music store CDnow has signed up as “the premier music retailer” on the Yahoo! UK and Ireland site, just weeks after UK-based IMVS signed a similar deal with the leading navigation site.
But Christopher Codrington, marketing director at IMVS (www. imvs.com), says he is unconcerned that CDnow is the preferred music vendor alongside his company on the Yahoo! site.
“Our deal provides an exclusive lock-out for UK-based online retailers,” says Codrington. “The way these deals with major search sites are structured allows for them to feature a ‘global’, normally US-based, online retailer in the category, followed by a regional retailer.”
But the issue of “preferred retailer” deals on major sites remains in a state of flux, he says.
Codrington insists that the flow of sales from Yahoo! has not been affected. And he says that if US-based music sellers want to compete in the UK online market, they will have to establish UK distribution centres.
CDnow, (www.cdnow.com) last week became one of the first e-commerce companies to launch a TV advertising campaign. The ads broke during last Thursday’s coverage of the MTV Video Music Awards.
