Vitaminic Buys IUMA to Expand U.S. Presence

Vitaminic, a leading European online music venture, is expanding its presence in the United States by acquiring the Internet Underground Music Archive, a pioneering online effort to promote little-known bands. IUMA founder Jeff Patterson said that Vitaminic, which is based in Milan, Italy, agreed to pay EMusic of Redwood City, Calif., $900,000 in cash and stock for IUMA. The deal promises to revitalize IUMA, which suspended most of its operations and laid off all its employees in January after a belt-tightening EMusic shut off its funding. Patterson said IUMA should be able to relaunch all its services, including adding new artists and selling CDs, by the end of the month.