Music subs service geared for a festive roll out

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Posted on 28 Nov 2001 at 14:44

Music labels' online subscription services are to be quietly rolled out this Christmas.

There won't be a fanfare for these services yet, as the major labels are concentrating efforts on marketing the boxed products. But at the end of a year that has seen the first decline in sales since monitoring began 10 years ago and with online piracy being pointed out as a reason behind this, it's time for the likes of MusicNet and Pressplay to prove their worth.

Universal and Sony's Pressplay will launch next month. Warner, EMI, BMG and Real's MusicNet service will launch in early December through RealNetworks' RealOne service for around $10 to $20 a month.

However, although the Napster phenomenon is over, there are still plenty of free peer-to-peer music-swapping services around. Additionally, with CD-R/W burners cheaper than ever illegally copying music is also easier than ever, and with portable digital music players needing to be upgraded in order to handle the digital rights technology incorporated into the new music formats, there's a huge battle to be fought.

Author: Matt Whipp