Two of the most active companies in the digital music space hooked up today in a licensing deal, with The Orchard agreeing to license its 700,000-song catalog to mobile download firm Groove Mobile.

The Orchard distributes music from independent labels like Lookout!, Fierce Panda, Saregama, Shanacie, SST, Delicious Vinyl, and Epsa, while Groove has created the download infrastructure for mobile download services from Sprint Nextel, Singapore-based Singtel, and UK-based wireless carrier Orange, owned by France Telecom.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal could be a boon to independent artists whose digital distribution rights have been acquired by The Orchard, and it gives the mobile download services that use Groove a booster shot of music from 22,000 artists from 73 countries. That catalog includes releases from several stars before they signed major label deals, including Ray Charles, Green Day, John Legend, Coldplay, Afrika Bambaataa, Ravi Shankar, Black Flag, and Public Enemy.

"Groove Mobile and The Orchard understand that today's mobile music fans want to get direct access to a wide variety of independent artists," Orchard chief Greg Scholl said in a statement. "With Groove Mobile, The Orchard's artists--which represent virtually every genre of music--have a great opportunity to put their music directly in front of new fans and reach out to old ones."