After the success of the first online-only compilation A Winter's Night -- which featured holiday-themed tracks from Avril Lavigne and Sarah McLachlan and spent most of December in the top ten of iTunes' album chart -- Nettwerk Music Group will release a series of new thematic collections in 2004. The compilations will be available for download at the iTunes Store and Canada's Puretracks.com.

The Valentine's Day-themed Simply Being Loved contains tracks by McLachlan, BT, Ivy, Neil Finn and Ron Sexsmith. "Simply Being Loved takes a page from the same book," says Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride. "A blend of well-known artists with some rather unknown artists, focused on songs about all the different sides of love. The bitter with the sweet."

Other compilations slated for release this year include a Halloween Day of the Dead album, a For the Kids children's record and a Best of Chillout set.

Simply Being Loved track listing:

Sarah McLachlan, "Blue"
David Mead, "Beauty"
Neil Finn, "Wherever You Are"
Delerium, "Run for It"
BT, "Simply Being Loved (Somnambulist)"
Ivy, "Edge of the Ocean"
The Be Good Tanyas, "In Spite of All the Damage"
Erin McKeown, "The Taste of You"
Oh Susanna, "The One"
Ron Sexsmith, "Least That I Can Do" (iTunes only)
Tara MacLean, "Divided" (Puretracks only)
Martina Sorbara, "Bonnie & Clyde II"
Old Crow Medicine Show, "Hard to Love"

COLIN DEVENISH
(January 21, 2004)