EMusic Stops IUMA Support:

Troubled online music retailer EMusic of Redwood City, Calif., has stopped funding the Internet Underground Music Archive, a pioneering online music venture designed to promote little-known bands. EMusic bought IUMA in June 1999 in a stock swap worth roughly $7.6 million, although the value of those shares has since tumbled to less than $200,000. All eight IUMA employees were laid off in mid-January, but the site will remain in operation for several more months while IUMA looks for another buyer, founder Jeff Patterson said. Steve Curry, an EMusic spokesman, said the company stopped spending on IUMA because “it’s pretty clear that sites for unsigned artists, where the ultimate goal is to get them signed . . . [doesn’t make] a whole lot of sense anymore in this economic climate.”