Universal to launch online music store

by Brad Linder Oct 12th 2007

It's no secret there's bad blood between Apple and Universal Music. While Apple's iTunes is the premiere online music store at the moment, some of the biggest artists are signed to Universal. You could argue that the two companies need each other. But Universal has decided to let is contract with Apple expire. And Universal began offering DRM-free tracks for download this year, the label went with Amazon, Wal-Mart, and RealNetworks rather than Apple.

Now it looks like Universal is gearing up for a frontal assault. Business Week reports the company is planning to launch its own digital music store, possibly with support from Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. Pretty much the whole goal is to bust up Apple's near-monopoly on the digital music distribution business. Right now, record label execs think that Steve Jobs and friends have too much power. Apple has pretty much set the price for music distributed online.

Now here's where it gets interesting. Universal's proposal wouldn't necessarily cost you more. Not if you're a major music downloader, anyway. The plan is to offer a $5 per month subscription service that would let you access a huge library of music. You wouldn't actually own the music and it would all disappear if you cancel your service. But $5 per month is about as cheap a subscription model as we've seen anyone propose. And Universal is hoping to partner with cellphone companies and hardware makers to cover the costs. Of course, that's not really how the world works, and rather than getting free music with your next handset, you'll probably see a new $5 to $10 fee on your phone bill.

[via Techmeme]

Tags: iTunes, music, universal, universal-music-group

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris said 5:39PM on 10-12-2007

Subscription services DO NOT WORK. People want to own their music and use their music on their IPODS. Not some craptacular cell phone.

When will the world learn?

TempusFugit said 10:39PM on 10-13-2007

While some people may not like the model, there's lots of people, myself included, that like the subscription based model. I make use of Napster, and it's great being able to explore the entire music library at my leisure paying only a small monthly fee. I can listen to music I might never have thought to have done, I can listen to music friends suggest and see if I like it just by putting in the name. I can explore through the categories, find music that is similar and listen to my hearts content. Then, what I really enjoy, I can pay to keep.

The two models aren't mutually exclusive - you can use the subscription to explore and find music you like (better than a limited preview) and buy what you like if you want access to it everywhere and burn it to a CD or put it on your media player (including ipods), or use the subscription for general listening when you fancy listening to some music at home and on your compatible media player (personally I love my creative zen vision, which is fully compatible with Napster).

Therefore, in my opinion, subscription services DO WORK - and they give a lot more freedom and flexibility than just buying music. Just because you don't want to use it, doesn't mean no one else does.

carl said 5:09PM on 10-15-2007

I like my subscription service, used on my non-Apple DAP. For the small price and vast access to music, it's a service worth using, even if I don't "own" the music.

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