The new owner of MP3.com has launched a separate site offering songs uploaded by independent and unsigned artists

Online-technology company CNET Networks has launched a free digital music service, allowing users to search and download what it says are thousands of songs contributed by independent and unsigned artists.

The service, based on CNET’s Download.com Web site (http://music.download.com), has been collecting music for the past few weeks, encouraging musicians to register on the site and upload their songs.

The music download service will be separate from the MP3.com Web site, which CNET has said it will relaunch soon as a music-information site.

The former MP3.com, which CNET acquired late last year, offered similar functions to those in the new music download platform. Many artists and fans of the site complained when CNET closed it down, fearing that hundreds of thousands of songs would be lost permanently.

Source: ZDNet