Virgin and Universal Announce Unlimited Music Download Service
Virgin and Universal Announce Unlimited Music Download Service
Posted 06/16/2009 at 7:00am
| by Paul Lilly
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Through a partnership with Universal, Virgin Media said it plans to launch an unlimited music download subscription service. The well timed announcement comes just one day before a British report hits the public eye detailing how the creative and telecom industries should go about bumping up digital sales to cope with lost revenue due to online piracy.
"We listened to our customers, our fans, and our artists and we think that this is an opportunity to bring music to a wider audience," said Lucian Grainge, Universal Music chairman and CEO.
According to Reuters, people familiar with the service said it would cost around $16 to $24 per month. Both sides are describing the service as a world first, which would allow Virgin Media broadband customers to both listen to streaming tracks and download however many tracks and albums they want.
Unlike other unlimited subscription services, the downloadable MP3s won't come with any DRM shackles, which means the tracks can be transferred to and played from any MP3-capable device.
"This is really high stakes, if this can't work then what will," commented Mark Mulligan, an analyst with Jupiter.
Image Credit: dailymobile.se
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Looksback
June 16, 2009 at 5:02pm
The reason people aren't paying for music is because you are trying to sell crap that isn't worth paying for.
I Jedi
June 16, 2009 at 2:10pm
If this should work out, then goodbye Rhapsody and hello Virgin/Universal music service.
alanmc76
June 16, 2009 at 10:44am
It's good to see that industries are starting to see the writing on the wall. DRM just plain does not work, people will always find a way around it. So offer the product in a way that is convenient and affordable to the majority. People are more apt to purchase it legally this way and saves money on constantly developing news methods of DRM.
Bravo, Virgin and Universal. Please convince your counterparts in the other production studios to do the same.
-- "What am I, MacGyver? Fix it with what?"--
dcdannyf
June 16, 2009 at 9:00am
It's always partnered up with another company! Can't a solo corp offer free music like Dilandau.com? Even though Universal and Virgin are on good lines, it may turn ugly soon. Big Danny :)
averageGrod
June 16, 2009 at 8:39am
But until people can get a cheap unlimited download service to a place with content from more than a couple labels we won't see the widespread adoption these labels are praying for. $24/mo is probably too much for most people. The day of the album is long dead. People don't want to pay $18 for 12 tracks when only a handful are worth listening to. When will someone provide a service with more than one media? iTunes offers video and audio. I'd like to see a subscription type media store that provided games, music, and tv/movies. If cable companies would start talking to the Onlive people and that tech pans out they could have a winning combination if they packaged it correct.
Captain_Obvious
June 16, 2009 at 8:35am
I would be really surprised if this doesn't take off unless there are some really unpleasant catches or the price is way higher than indicated. Unlimited download of 100% legal mp3s almost sounds to good to be true when every other business model either bleeds you dry with microtransactions, partners each download with the DRM version of a slap in the face, or both.
Even if the library is paulty, such a service would definetly have my business because the arrangement would finally feel a bit less one sided.
nekollx
June 16, 2009 at 8:41am
im sure theirs a bitch slap in there somewhere.
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ogremustcrush
June 16, 2009 at 8:15am
This is a pretty good play for the music industry. Many people will not be downloading enough music each month to make this any more affordable than buying the songs one a piece, and the few that do download massive amounts of music are now paying for it instead of pirating it. Of course, it will take more than just music from universal to give this service widestream adoption.
rruscio
June 16, 2009 at 7:02am
Call me old school, but until I can get FLAC files, or 320K MP3's, I'll buy CD's and make my own.
rr
Springfield45
June 16, 2009 at 6:46am
This is quite an impressive development. If the bitrate is decent, even stingy folks like me may go for this one!
-- An armed man is a free man. --
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