Beginning this month, MusicMatch Jukebox will ship with seven lines of internal and external Sony-branded CD-recordable and CD-rewritable drives worldwide. MusicMatch Jukebox will also ship with 12 additional lines of Sony-branded CD-R/RW drives by the end of 2001.

MusicMatch software has an integrated CD burning feature that lets consumers create their own music CDs, competing directly with RealNetworks Inc.'s , which uses software by Roxio Inc. to enable its users to burn CDs off their computers.

``With the addition of Sony to our list of distribution partners, MusicMatch will now ship with over 60 percent of CD-recordable drives worldwide by year's end,'' said Brotman, noting there are many cases where both MusicMatch software and Roxio software are offered on the same device.

The MusicMatch/Sony deal follows an agreement earlier this week between EMI Group Plc (news - web sites) and Roxio, marking the first time a giant music company was moving to develop a secure way for burning music onto blank CDs.