London, United Kingdom (October 14, 2005)-- Online record label Magnatune (www.magnatune.com) and the amaroK software project have partnered to offer amaroK Live version 1.3, a bootable Linux CD with the amaroK music player and featuring 20 selections from leading Magnatune artists in the open-source-friendly Ogg Vorbis file format. Each developer on the amaroK team picked their favorite songs from Magnatune, creating an eclectic portrait of what open source pioneers like to listen to.

The collaboration affirms that "sometimes you get more than you paid for." Created by a team of volunteers, amaroK Live 1.3 is available to the public for free at www.amaroklive.com. With its offering of Magnatune music and introduction of many new features, users are able to focus on playing and managing music with ease at no charge.

Unusual in the music industry, Magnatune is the first record label to apply software's "Open Source Definition" principles to the music business. Open Source principles take the best from the work of thousands of contributors, and collect everything into an accessible, useful software platform. "Magnatune and amaroK have the same goals" explained John Buckman, Magnatune founder and CEO "so working together made a lot of sense and this is a great way for people to hear our music."

Magnatune picks the best music and packages it into a web site where anyone can listen to all music before they buy. Besides interesting music, Magnatune customers get a copy-protection-free full-quality (WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG) download. As Buckman affirms "Our customers enjoy easy, affordable access to amazing music that would otherwise not get heard-- we think this is a great way to infuse new life into the music industry."

Likewise, a group of volunteer developers created amaroK as a "dream product." Their sole goal and purpose is to improve the software, not conform to a bottom line. Similar to most open source projects, amaroK is provided to the public free of charge. As one team member reported "We're just a group of folks from around the globe who've joined together to try and create the best audio player out there--in short, we're music lovers making the application we would want to use."

Because it is freely available, others may modify the amaroK source code at will and join in developing it. The end result is a ingenious software tool with an interface that is easy, intuitive and powerful.

The amaroK team wanted to include high quality music in their new software release that could be freely distributed. Many on the team had heard of Magnatune and appreciated what the label was doing for musicians and consumers. Each amaroK developer picked two tracks from the Magnatune catalogue. With over 202 artists to choose from on Magnatune, a very wide sampling of what the label has to offer is included, since everyone liked a different genre. One team member was so enthusiastic about Magnatune artist Arthur Yoria's sound, he immediately bought the "I'll Be Here Awake" album for the maximum amount allowed and marked the track with the highest score in his sizable (and legal) personal collection.

In addition to offering Magnatune music, the release of version amaroK Live 1.3 introduces a wealth of features, bringing a whole new level of flexibility to the product. With support for multiple sound engines, users can choose what best fit their needs. A context browser allows for display of all kinds of useful information about the currently playing song and there is support for radio streams from the internet.

A new database allows for easy management of a music collection, which can be searched and sorted by artist and album. More music can be added and playlists can be saved for future listening. Cover art, lyrics and artist information from Wikipedia can be accessed by the player if there is an Internet connection, and the last.fm service can be used to provide suggestions about similar artists. While this only scratches the surface of the amaroK experience, it must be used to be truly appreciated.

"amaroK Live 1.3 is a great free product and cool way for people to hear Magnatune music" concludes Buckman "More importantly, open Source isn't just about making source code available and Magnatune isn't only about offering music. It's also about general approach to creative works, and how they interact with a larger community. Our collaboration with amaroK is a great way to contribute to an open business environment."

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About Magnatune

Founded in 2003, Magnatune (www.magnatune.com) is an independent, online record label that hand selects its own artists, sells its catalogue of music through online downloads and print-on-demand CDs, and licenses music for commercial and non-commercial use. Based on the principle that "we are not evil," the company offers fair-trade music to consumers by equally sharing all revenue from the sale of albums with artists and allowing artists to retain full rights to their music. All music can be previewed free of charge with a "try before you buy" philosophy. Customers can also choose how much they want to pay for the music with prices ranging from $5.00 to $18.00, or £3.00 to £10.00, for a downloadable or print-on-demand CD.