Zardon

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Computer maker Gateway Inc. on Friday aimed to "jazz" up a ho-hum Christmas season by announcing a deal with online music provider Pressplay to load its PCs with 2,000 songs from hit pop stars from Eminem and Bruce Springsteen to the Dixie Chicks and Frank Sinatra.

The deal with Pressplay, a joint venture between Vivendi Universal and Sony Corp., capped a turbulent week for Gateway, which saw its stock fall 17 percent on Thursday after the troubled PC maker warned that fourth-quarter revenue might not measure up to expectations.

The news followed three consecutive quarters of losses at Gateway, which has suffered from weak demand and stiff competition from rivals like Dell Computer Corp. .

Under the Pressplay deal, Gateway consumers can access the Pressplay service and features in several ways, including a 90-day free subscription to the service, with 2,000 songs preloaded and available for streaming and downloading.

By loading it on a computer, consumers, especially those using dial-up connections, will save weeks of downloading time, said Michael Bebel, president and chief executive officer of Pressplay, in an interview on Thursday.

Other Pressplay plan options will also be available, some sold separately in hard drive packages.

Gateway signed another deal with Pressplay rival Listen.com's Rhapsody a few weeks ago, marking the first distribution pact between a computer maker and one of a current crop of subscription services, trying to lure users from unauthorized song-swap services that have emerged in the wake of now-idled Napster.

Under that deal, buyers of Gateway desktop PCs will get a coupon for one free month of Rhapsody and a demonstration of the service on the PCs.

"The Pressplay deal is significantly different because we're pioneering a way to deliver digital music on the hard drive," said Brad Shaw, a senior vice president for Gateway.

Shaw said the deal would have no impact on the company's fourth-quarter forecast announced earlier this week.

Following the free trials, consumers can get the Pressplay service, which provides over 200,000 songs and additional features, with pricing options starting from $9.95 a month. DIGITAL MUSIC IS FUN

"We're now making it possible for people without a broadband Internet connection to get in on the fun of digital music by delivering it to them in a whole new way," said Ted Waitt, Gateway chairman and chief executive in a statement, adding those with broadband will enjoy it even more.

Gateway earlier this year sparked the ire of the music industry by running TV ads that showed Waitt and a cow -- the company's mascot -- singing along to a homemade CD, directing viewers to a Web site that encouraged them to "protect their digital music rights."

The ad was construed by the recording industry as an invitation to music fans to join in the fight against Hollywood as technology and media companies locked horns over digital copies of entertainment.

Entertainment firms, burned by piracy and file-sharing services like Napster, have been seeking more control over digital copies of movies, music and TV shows, while tech companies are putting out ever more products that encourage customers to "rip" and "burn" entertainment software.

Gateway officials this week said they have always supported legal copying.

Waitt said the Pressplay deal was a great example of the technology and recording industries working together to drive innovation and serve demand for legitimate digital music.

Gateway plans to promote with television, Web, catalog and e-mail marketing. Sue Zeidler