Sony's (NYSE: SNE) 
music business subsidiary, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), plans to deliver songs to the iTunes Music Store in Japan managed by Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL) , a competitor of its parent company in the portable digital music player market, Sony Music officials said.
Sony Music and Apple are working out the details of a possible deal, including commission charges. They have yet to decide on when the iTunes Music Store will start offering its download services for Sony Music's songs, said the officials.
'Helping the Enemy'
The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper quoted a music industry source as saying Sony's move was like "helping the enemy," but a spokesman said the company only aimed to reach out to more music fans.
Sony Music has decided to put a priority on bolstering its sales in the rapidly growing market for online music distribution and offering its musicians opportunities to sell their songs to users of Apple's iPod music player, rather than considering the Sony-Apple battle over portable digital music players.
"We simply want iPod users to listen to our music," the spokesman said, adding that the deal could bring some 25,000 songs by the company's Japanese artists to iPod users.
Apple launched its iTunes services in Japan last month, and reached one million downloads in just four days, despite a dearth of some of Japan's most popular music.
Getting a Better Grip
The possible deal with Sony Music would help Apple strengthen its foothold in the Japanese market, giving it a chance to cover that shortfall of Japanese songs.
The Yomiuri said the Apple-Sony music service could begin as early as this year, but the spokesman declined to confirm the report, emphasizing that the two firms had yet to decide on details, including a price per song.
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