Music giants Sony Music and Universal Music Tuesday said they had joined
forces to launch a subscription-based digital music service, which experts
say could be the next big trend in distributing music on the Web.
Making a similar announcement Tuesday was music downloading company MP3.com
Inc., which said it had launched a classical music subscription service.
These announcements followed a key victory last week for the record industry
in its anti-piracy campaign when a federal judge ruled MP3.com violated
copyright law with the creation of a database that lets users store music
and then access it via any computer connected to the Internet.
“Listening to music via subscription is the way of the future for the music
business,” said Chris Montgomery, director of channel program at MP3.com.
“We have created a working ”Channel” model and now we invite labels and
content owners alike to join us in developing a mutually equitable
system.”
Sony, the music arm of Sony Corp. and Universal, owned by Seagram Co. Ltd.,
said they will license music and video content, potentially including
streaming and downloading features, to Internet consumers using various
platforms like computers, wireless personal devices, and set-top boxes. It
is expected to launch within the year.
“People have been predicting this sort of format, subscription streaming,
would help grow the business,” said Bruce Haring, author of “Beyond the
Charts, MP3 and the Digital Music Revolution.”
MP3.com’s Classical Music Channel’s monthly fee of $9.99 includes unlimited
streaming access to more than 3,400 tracks and over 300 free downloads from
the collection.
“The music industry is constantly evolving to find new ways to reach our
customer, the music fan,” said Al Smith, Senior Vice President at Sony
Music Entertainment. “We’re focusing on multiple platforms and wanted to
get together with another music company at this early stage.”
“We’re moving fast on this, but many of these new platforms are still in
development. We’ll roll out our service as these new devices become
available,” said Heather Myers, general manager at Universal Music’s Global
e division.
Tuesday’s announcements also come as Palm Inc. announced that all of its
hand-held devices would be able to access the Web by the end of the year.
