MSN Music to offer GarageBand songs

MSN Music is teaming up with music site Garageband.com to distribute free music from artists that aren't signed to traditional music labels. The deal will expand Microsoft's access to independent music as it seeks to catch up with rival services, including Apple Computer's iTunes store, which has been in the market much longer.

Garageband.com is run by Ali Partovi, who is the brother of Hadi Partovi, the Microsoft staffer who oversaw the development of the MSN Music project.